


Out of The Dark

by AloneShadow



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Canon Divergence - Season 3, Canon-Typical Violence, Caring Angus MacGyver, Case Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Epic Bromance, Friendship, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016), Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Mild Language, Not Betaed, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Plot Twists, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:07:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28955448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: Jack had no idea what would have happened after he left the Phoenix to go after Kovac, but he made it out alive. Haunted by new, terrible nightmares, but alive, and with a family still waiting for him to come back.Soon, he will realize that a broken friendship is not the only thing he has to make amend for.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to post chapter one because it kind of is like a little stand-alone I basically used to cope with 5x05 and I wanted to share it. I'm currently on chapter 4, and the plot is pretty much clear. More tags will be added with new chapters, but worth saying the M rating might change to E because of depiction of violence/torture-- maybe something worse. Usually, my darkest ideas turn less dark once on the page, so, just a heads up that this isn't a vanilla fic *cough*more like an angsty middle finger to 5x05*cough*. The story will follow canon only until half of season 3.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy it. 
> 
> (Title inspired by the song Out of The Dark by Dia Frampton. It's basically the vibe for the whole story at this point.)

_“There’s no such thing as an_ easy life _for us, Dalton. You should know that.”_

_Jack didn’t comment on that, the smoke starting to burn his eyes- still, he kept them on the target, holding the gun with both his bloodied hands. He could feel some running down his face as well._

_“This shouldn’t be a problem for such a professional like yourself...”_

_**“Don’t move.”** _

_“We’re going out with a bang? That’s fine by me.”_

_“I SAID DON’T MOVE!”_

_“All of us going out with a bright, spectacular...!”_

Jack bolted upright with a gasp, hands grasping the sheets hard enough to turn his knuckles white. 

Breathing fast, he scanned the dim room before allowing himself to swallow down the fear, passing the side of a hand over his sweaty forehead. 

As his heartbeats slowed down, he took a deep breath, keeping it in for three seconds before releasing it. As his shoulder lowered, he shivered, feeling the shirt soaked on his back. 

He looked at the closed window, almost expecting it to explode… 

_“Rise and shine, Dalton. This is gonna be a long night._

Jack shut his eyes, hoping to make the memories vanish along with the room. Feeling calmer, he stood up, his bare feet touching the wooden floor. Rising a hand, he could see it shaking slightly. 

Jack took another deep breath and walked to the bathroom while taking off and throwing his clothes away, hoping to feel better after a shower. 

That was too much to ask for, of course, but at least the hot water gave him ten minutes of relief. Once dressed up, Jack walked to the window, hesitating for a moment before slowly pulling up the blinds: the sun was not visible yet, but the weak light of the dawn was creating a purple aura over the woods around the ranch. 

Walking downstairs, he put the coffee machine at work before heading to the door, opening it and stepping outside, taking in the smell of pine trees he liked so much since he was a kid. Turning to the left, he looked at the car he got for rent months before, parked under the large tree next to the little barn he finished painting just the other day. 

On the right, he could see the fields and, far ahead, the street connecting him to the town close by. There was silence all around, and that was a blessing for his nerves. 

He turned around hearing the coffee machine calling him back to the present. Filling his cup, he turned on the television in the living room, listening to some news before muting the video and sitting on the couch, dropping his head back. The bullet hole was still visible on the white ceiling, clear as day…

 _Need to fix that somehow,_ Jack thought, staring at it. 

_**“-please!”**_

The sudden scream and gunshot made Jack flinch so hard he spilled some coffee, hissing as it burnt his hand. Quickly standing up, he nervously looked around, but there was no one there. No one shot him. No bullets fired… His brain just thought it was a good time to imagine it happening. 

Walking back into the kitchen he put the cup down and washed his hands, his anger boiling to the point he had to shut his eyes and hold onto the sink, listening to the water running. “Not real…Not real. I’m fine,” Jack told himself. Opening his eyes, he saw blood dripping from his hands, and instantly shut them again, his breathing accelerating. “Not real. No blood. I’m… I am-” he took another deep breath. “I’m fine. It’s fine.” 

He stood there for who knows how long, waiting, focusing on the sound of the water and his breathing… When he opened his eyes again, the blood was gone. 

Jack turned the water off with a trembling hand before slowly sitting on the floor, back against the oven, dropping his head over his arms, fighting back the panic.

He spent the rest of the morning walking around the property, as usual, wishing he could have been able to keep a few horses like his dad used to. He missed those days… 

When night came, he ate a light dinner before spending hours sitting on the front porch, staring at the stars; the calm, cool breeze feeling good over the skin. 

Like every night since he came back to the States, he left his cellphone on the banister, staring at it for hours: he has not turned on his personal phone since he came back, using another one only twice, to call Matilda Webber. Excluding a couple of messages he sent Riley after leaving, he didn't hear from anyone else for almost two years now. 

The reminder always caused him heartache, guilt and shame keeping him awake almost every night… But he could deal with that no problem. Actually calling his friends and going back to Los Angeles? _That_ was still a big no for him.

Jack spent three months in Texas by now, hating himself for keeping them all out of his life without an explanation. And Mac… Just thinking about him was enough to make Jack shift on the seat, eyes burning with tears. 

After what happened, Mac should have been the first one to go talk to, as soon as he came back… Instead, Jack ran back to his hometown, with his nightmares. 

_I can’t let him see me like this_ , Jack kept saying to himself, trying not to see that just as a stupid excuse. He thought it was the right decision, at the time… Now, he was wondering if isolating himself has been a mistake. 

Jack sighed and grabbed the phone. Playing with it for a while, he then decided to turn it on: his heart got heavy as he saw around twenty messages from Riley appearing, and at least sixty missing calls from Matty, Bozer, even Cage… Of all those calls, only two were from Mac: one the day after he came back to the States, and another three days later. 

Jack swallowed down the tears, but, as he scrolled through Riley’s messages, he couldn’t stop them anymore, and spend the rest of the night sitting there, crying on the front porch.

*

It took Jack two days to get some sort of control over himself, turning the phone off again. He couldn’t deal with other messages, and he was scared to death to receive any call.

 _Mac called me. Twice._ Jack couldn’t stop thinking while walking into the woods, _What if he needed help? What if-?_

A branch cracking made Jack stop and move a hand over the gun on his back, scanning through the woods. He stood there, immobile until he recognized a deer in the distance. 

Breathing out, Jack moved the hand away from the gun and turned around, heading back home. 

That night, lying on the living room’s couch, Jack kept the cellphone over his chest for around two hours before deciding to turn it on. Surprisingly enough, there were no new notifications. 

He let out a sigh, tempted to turn it off again- but then he just dropped it, hearing it slide down his side and landing on the carpet with a dull _thump_. Without bothering to retrieve it, Jack shut his eyes and fall asleep. 

He woke up early in the morning because of the light coming through the windows of the living room. 

After a long moment spent feeling completely numb, Jack rubbed a hand over his eyes and sat up, staring at the fireplace in front of him before slowly standing up, the clock signing 7.30 AM- strangely late for his standard. 

Yawning, Jack started making breakfast, letting the coffee rise while he made a stop to the bathroom. 

At precisely 8 AM, he was grabbing a mug when his phone ringing made him freeze on the spot. Turning to the living room, he waited a second before walking to the couch, and, leaning forward, found it on the floor- and Mac’s name was appearing on the screen. 

Jack’s heart sank. He grabbed the phone and sat on the couch, conflicted about what to do. It was a matter of time before Mac would have had to leave a message or call another time… _If_ , he would have called again.

Jack took a deep breath, “Hello?” 

There were a few seconds of silence, then, “Jack?” 

He felt tears forming in his eyes. “H- hey. Hi.” 

“Hi. I- I thought you were not going to pick up.” 

“No- sorry, took me a while to get to the phone.” 

“Do you want me to call another time-?” 

“No. No, it’s fine.” Jack breathed out, trying to calm down, “It’s- it’s good to hear you.” 

Another moment of silence. “Yeah. Same.” 

Jack nodded slowly. He wasn’t expecting things to just go back to normal, not even after two years, but still… Mac’s blank voice sounded so much like the first time they met in Afghanistan. He didn’t like that. 

“Everyone was waiting for you to come back,” Mac then said. “It’s been three months now…” 

“You… You all knew when I got back?” 

“Riley knew. She told us, but Matty said not to come after you… That you asked her not to tell us you were coming back.” A brief pause, “Was that true?” 

Matty has been the first person he called once he reached the airport… And Jack indeed begged her not to tell anyone, and that he needed some time alone. “It’s true,” he said, “Sorry, I…” 

“It’s alright. Don’t worry.”

Jack looked down, wondering if there was still hope for their friendship. 

“I didn't want to bother you more than necessary,” Mac then said. “I just thought… I don’t know, that you would have called me- or Riley…” 

“I wanted to. I… I turned my phone back on just a few days ago.” Jack sighed, “You're right. I... I should have called.” 

“Yeah… You should have.” 

Jack frowned a bit. 

“How long do you plan to stay on your own?” Mac quickly continued. 

“I don’t know, really.” 

“Are we allowed to come to say hi?” 

Jack was going to answer, but then stopped, frowning even more. Turning to the window, he stood up and looked outside: Mac was sitting in a blue pickup parked just next to his car. Jack took a deep breath. 

“I’ll leave if you want me to,” Mac told him, smiling slightly through the windshield, cellphone against his ear. 

“So you can tell Riley that I kicked you out of my property?” 

“They don’t know that I’m here,” Mac said. “Riley told me where you were, but it was my idea to come knocking at your door… Do you want me to leave?” 

_I don’t know._ Jack didn’t have the heart to say it aloud. 

“Because that’s fine… I should have warned you.” Mac continued, now sounding more nervous. “You know what? Forget that I was here. I’ll-“ 

“No, hey- hold on,” Jack said as he heard the engine being turned on. “Just give me a second, ok?” 

Mac looked back at him and nodded, waiting in silence.

Jack turned around, considering what to do… But that was the point, after all: he had no idea what to do… The only thing he knew was that he didn’t want to keep Mac out of his life any longer. “I was going to have breakfast. If you want to join me…?” 

“Sure… I’d like that.” Was the answer, and Jack was glad to hear Mac’s voice a bit more at ease, along with the sound of the pickup’s engine being turned off.

The first thing Jack noticed was that Mac looked paler than he remembered- and a bit skinner as well, but maybe that was just his impression. What was not just an impression was how Mac barely looked at him in the eyes. Still, Jack thought that was normal considering what happened between them before he left the States.

“I like it here,” Mac then said, calling him back to the present. 

“Do you? It’s very peaceful...” Jack said, sitting on the front porch stairs with a mug in his hands, while Mac was standing a few feet away next to him, his back leaning against the house. 

“That’s a plus,” Mac said, taking a sip. There was a moment of silence, then he asked, “How are you, Jack?” 

Jack kept his eyes down, not sure if to lie or be honest. “Depends on the day,” he said in the end, a weak smile on his lips. He knew his friend was staring at him. “I was- kinda hiding down here, I guess,” he laughed it off, but it sounded fake even to his own ears. 

“Matty said that you found Kovac... That you guys stopped him...?”

“We have.” 

“I thought that’d be a good thing…?” 

“It was. It is. God only knows how better the world is with Kovac gone, but it took so long…” Jack sighed nervously, staring into the cup. There was no comment on that, so he looked up, finding Mac gazing ahead with a sad expression on his face. “Mac, I’m-“ 

“Don’t.” He stopped him, shaking his head, still avoiding his eyes. “No need. You did what you thought was right.” 

“Yes, but I didn't leave because of what happened. You know that, do you? Everything was set, I couldn't-“ 

“I know. Matty told me,” he nodded, finishing drinking the coffee, slowly moving the mug into his hands, “Maybe it was better this way.” 

_No, it wasn't_ , Jack thought staring at him, unable to stop blaming himself for the sadness on his friend’s face. Eventually, Mac turned and finally met his gaze. “What about you?” Jack asked, somehow relieved to properly see those blue eyes again.

“What about me?” 

“Well, I’ve been gone for two years…” 

“And three months.” 

“And three months,” Jack scoffed, nodding. “How are you doing? How have you been?” 

It was Mac’s turn to take a deep breath. “Fine. Spent most of the time working.” 

_Did I hurt you so bad?_ Jack asked himself, _Did you see my leaving as a betrayal? Because, sometimes, it felt like that for me too…_

“Jack?” 

“Mh?” 

“Are you cold?” 

Jack frowned, then followed his gaze: his hands were shaking slightly. “Ah- yeah, it is a bit cold,” he said quickly finishing his coffee and standing up. “How about we get inside?” he asked, noticing a brief hesitation. 

Mac then nodded, “Ok.” 

Jack walked inside, leaving the mug in the sink. As he washed it, along with a few plates, he couldn’t stop wondering if he needed to say something about the last time they spoke. Was that the right time? Was it the right place? Mac probably wanted to talk about it or he wouldn’t have come that far to meet him… 

Drying his hands, Jack turned around, finding Mac in the living room, watching outside the window. It was such a weird scene, having him there, in his old family house… “You've never come here before, haven't you?” 

Mac turned to him, shaking his head. “No. You showed me some pictures, though.” 

“Right.” Jack nodded. He wasn’t used to that awkward silence between them anymore. It took them a while to get along at the beginning, so now was supposed to be easier… Apparently, that wasn’t the case. 

“It’s a nice place.” Mac eventually said, looking around the living room, “I understand now why you love it so much.” 

“Yeah… It’s still a bit messy, though. Didn’t had the chance to care about the house for a long time.” 

Mac kept scanning the room, then looked up and frowned. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the ceiling. 

Jack realized he was referring to the bullet hole. _Of course he would have noticed that_ , he cursed at himself. 

“That's- is that a bullet hole?” Mac insisted, now sounding a bit worried. 

“Dropped my gun.” Jack shrugged with a nervous smile, looking everywhere but at him. “I was moving boxes all over the house and- it just happened.” He knew that was a terrible lie, and, briefly looking at his friend, he already knew he wasn’t buying it.

Mac kept staring at him, but then just nodded, moving to leave his empty cup in the sink. 

Jack almost held his breath as Mac walked past and behind him. Hearing the water running, he shivered thinking about the _little_ breakdown he had in the exact same spot just a few days before. Turning around, their eyes met again. “Mac, I- I’m happy to see you, really, but-” 

“That's good to know,” Mac commented, noticing his puzzled gaze, “That you’re happy to see me, I mean.” 

“Come on, man…” Jack said, but the other just looked down. “We haven't seen each other for two years, of course I’m happy to see you.” 

Mac nodded, forcing out a little, more genuine smile. 

“I was just wondering… I mean, you didn’t come down here from Los Angeles just for me, right?” 

“Why not?” Mac asked, and it was his turn, now, to look puzzled. “I had no other way to contact you, so...” 

Jack felt his heart hurt, guilt becoming heavier on his heart. “Thanks.” 

Mac nodded. “I... I mean, I do have something to do around here. Needed to grab some documents from Dallas.” 

“Dallas? That’s a few hours from here…?” 

“Yes, I know.” 

Jack smiled a bit as the other looked away, embarrassed. 

“I have to be there tomorrow morning,” Mac added. 

“You got a place to stay already?” 

“Yeah… Booked a room close to Dallas.” 

Normally, Jack would have asked if he needed help, or offered him to stay there for the night… He wanted to ask him, but something stopped him. And he was sure Mac noticed it. 

“The appointment is early in the morning, so… I won’t stay around here for long.” Mac finished. 

Jack nodded slowly, “Can I invite you for lunch tomorrow, then?” he asked, because _that_ he couldn’t stop from asking. “Once you’re done, you could come back here- if you don’t have other plans?” 

“Not at the moment, no. I… I didn’t plan anything.” 

“Good. Then I’ll make you some local specialties. I found my dad’s cookbook just the other day…” 

“You can cook?” 

“Of course I can cook. Even in this old kitchen,” Jack scoffed. He saw him smiling back, but it was barely noticeable. “So… I’ll wait for you tomorrow?” 

Mac thought for a moment, “I don’t know how long it could take-“ 

“I’ll wait for you. Not a problem.” Jack shrugged, “It’s not like I’m busy here, anyway…” 

Mac sighed but then nodded. “Alright, then. I’ll let you know when I’m done, so… Keep your phone on.” 

“I will.” Jack couldn’t stop a grin. 

There was another awkward silence after that, then Mac said, “I, uh, better get going then. See you tomorrow?” 

“Sure. Call me if you need-“ Jack hesitated there, noticing Mac stopping with a hand on the doorknob. “If you need anything, just call, alright?” he finished. It was too late to take that back… And, being honest to himself, Jack didn’t want to take it back.

Mac briefly looked at him, nodding before leaving. 

Jack slowly moved on the doorstep, watching him hop back into the car. He raised a hand as a salute, but if Mac smiled or returned the gesture, he didn’t see it because of the light reflecting on the windshield. 

He watched the car driving away, and only then lowered his hand. He wanted their friendship back, no matter how hard that would have been. He couldn’t lose Mac- he didn’t want to. Now, he just had to prove it.

The next day, Jack woke up in a strangely good mood, and it didn't take a genius to acknowledge that was because he knew Mac was around. He had no shame to admit that seeing his friend after so long had been a boost for his morale... They still needed to talk things out, but, at least, they started on the right foot.

Jack then continued with his routine, taking a shower, then breakfast and a walk outside, but not as long as usual. He walked back home at 10 AM, his phone on since he woke up. One hour later, he was checking recipes in the cookbook when it finally started ringing. It still made him nervous reading Mac’s name on the screen, but it lasted just for a second, “Hey, Mac.” 

“Hey. Sorry it took me so long to call you...” 

Jack looked at the hour. “No problem. Everything's alright?" 

“Yes, but- it's kinda late now. You should just eat without me. I-“ 

“No, I told you, I can wait.” 

“But I’m still-“ 

“I’ll wait for you.” Jack insisted more seriously. “The food and the kitchen aren’t going anywhere. Just text me when you’re done there and I’ll start preparing.” 

There was a moment of silence, then Mac sighed, “Ok… Thanks. And sorry.” 

“No problem. Hang in there, alright?” 

“I’ll try. ‘Later,” Mac said, ending the call. 

Jack stared at the phone for a while, then took a deep breath and continued his research. 

It was 5 PM when Jack realized the situation could be more complicated than he thought. 

Sitting on the couch, staring at the bullet hole in the ceiling, he wondered if ignoring the awkwardness with Mac and all their problems could have been the wrong approach. 

_I shouldn’t have invited him over… Maybe I should have brought up our last conversation first? Maybe he thought that I just wanted to ignore everything and move on? He didn’t say anything about it either, but… Was that on me?_

Jack groaned as more questions filled his brain. Sighing, he grabbed his phone, finding no calls or messages. _I want to talk about it… He must know that. I was the one that-_

A knocking on the door made him jump on his feet. He quickly calmed down and walked to open- and there was Mac. “Oh, come on, I told you to call me… Cooking takes time!”

“Sorry, I… I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it.” Mac said. 

To Jack, that sounded more like _I wasn’t sure I wanted to come back here_. He took a deep breath and said, “Mac, I’m not… You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” and his heart cracked a bit when the other just looked down. “Sorry, I… I shouldn’t have asked you to come back…” 

“No, I- I appreciated that…” 

Jack nodded slowly, “But…?” 

“But I thought… I don’t know, I didn’t want to bother you.” 

“Bother me? It was me that invited you for lunch- well, dinner, at this point,” Jack sighed patiently. “I would have told you to leave if I didn’t want you around.” 

Mac looked at him, “You would have?” 

Jack held his gaze, then just dropped his shoulders, resigned. “No, probably not,” he admitted, making him smile a bit, "but that doesn’t mean you have to stay if you don’t want to, so I’ll ask you again, and you gotta be honest with me: do you want to stay for dinner? And feel free to say no.” 

Mac thought for a moment, then nodded slowly, “I’m starving.” 

Jack smiled, quickly trying to hide it. “One call. That’s all you needed to do, and now you would be eating already.” He said walking to the kitchen. “I have a few things ready for the oven, but the rest…” 

“That'll be enough,” Mac said closing the door and following him. 

“You just said that you’re starving.” 

“Not to the point of dying.” 

“Ugh,” Jack groaned putting a container into the over, turning it on. He then looked around, “Ok, let me think for a sec. You can sit… Do whatever you like. How was Dallas, anyway?” he asked starting to prepare a chicken salad with some leftover from the day before. 

“It was alright.” 

“You got those files you needed?” 

“Yes.” 

“Couldn’t you ask Riley to get them online?” 

“Probably… Yeah, I could have.” 

Jack felt that as a stab to the heart. Turning around, he found Mac looking at some old pictures on the shelves next to the fireplace. “Anyway, you- you good? I can lit that up if you’re cold?” 

“Mh? No. No, I’m fine. Is this you?” Mac asked with a little smile, pointing at the picture. 

“Not my proudest moment,” he laughed, nodding, remembering that scene. “I still remember they forced me to go to that water park that day… I hated it.” 

“How old were you? Ten…?” 

“More or less,” Jack nodded, turning to set up the table. “You might not believe it, but my family was all up for fun times together.” 

“Knowing you, I do believe that.” 

“What?” 

“I mean, you... You kind of do the same thing. With us.” 

Jack looked briefly at him while filling the water bottle, but Mac was now scanning the bookshelf. “I’ll take that as a compliment…?” 

“It was a compliment.” 

Jack smiled a bit to himself and turned to the water again. It was then that a sudden blast- _gunshot_ \- made him jump so much the bottle slipped from his hand, crashing on the floor as loud as a bomb, making him gasp and step back. Jack’s hand instantly moved to his back, even if he had no gun on himself at the moment- he was sure someone shot Mac. He was going to turn around and find him dead on the floor, bleeding and-

Mac was still standing in front of the bookshelf, an arm stretched up towards the highest pile, one large book now on the floor, at his feet. He was very much alive, but he clearly has frozen on the spot, staring at him. “Sorry, I- I dropped one…” he said, uncertain. 

Jack felt his heart slowly going back in its place, still running like crazy. Blinking fast, he knew what was going to happen. 

“You ok?” Mac asked, lowering his arm. 

“Y- you scared me,” He blurted out, a tight smile on his lips. 

“Jack-?” 

“I forgot something- upstairs. Just give me a sec,” he said while leaving. 

_Deep breaths. Deep breaths and calm down_ , Jack kept repeating to himself walking up the stairs and down the corridor. As he reached the bathroom, he left the door ajar and grasped the sink, head down, repeating to himself that everything was fine, nothing bad happened; Mac was there, they were going to have a nice dinner together and everything was fine… 

_“You’ve got better with knives. I’m impressed, Dalton.”_

“Damn it…” Jack hissed shutting his eyes, trying to think of something else, but the memories were all running back at him. He took another deep breath and walked to his bedroom, grabbing the pills container from the drawer and gulping two down without water. He then sat on the bed and dropped his head into both hands. He has been doing- _decent_ without meds in the last weeks, but sometimes… Sometimes everything was too overwhelming.

After a while, his heart started slowing down enough to allow him to lower his arms, eyes still closed. Letting out a long, still shaken breath, Jack straightened his back and looked up, finding Mac standing in the doorway. “Hey… I, uh, I was coming downstairs. Need to clean that mess-“ 

“I took care of it.” 

“You didn’t have to-“ 

“Jack, it’s ok,” Mac told him, moving closer, rising a hand to invite him to stay put, without touching him. “It’s alright.” 

Jack nodded, still tense, but it was good to hear those words from a voice that wasn’t his own. He looked down again, shaking his head, “Sorry.“ 

“Nothing to be sorry for.” 

“If I scared you-“ 

“I think I am the one having to apologize for that,” Mac said, but the other didn’t comment. “Do you want me to give you a moment…?” 

Jack shook his head again, scooting aside to invite him to sit, and Mac did, making him feel a bit better. They sat there in silence for a while, illuminated only by the light coming from the corridor outside the room. “This is why I'm here,” Jack eventually said. “I wanted to come back, but… I’m still a bit of a mess.” 

Mac looked at him, but keep quiet.

“Searching for Kovac was… I knew it wouldn’t have been easy but… Some of the things I’ve seen- and what I had to do…” Jack looked down, voice lower. “I feel like I've been taking only wrong decisions in the last two years.” 

“That's hard to believe,” Mac gently said, smiling a bit as he looked at him, “I’ve known you long enough to know that whatever you do, it's necessary to keep people safe.” 

“Not always," Jack said, feeling guiltier than ever. "Leaving you like that was just the first mistake."

“Jack, that’s not important right now...” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t have to apologize to me.” 

“To who, then?” 

“To no one. It was your decision,” Mac told him calmly. “You thought that was the right thing to do, and it probably was, even if it was hard to admit it. But that won’t stop any of us from helping you if you need us.” 

Jack took a deep breath and nodded, murmuring a sad “Thank you." After a moment of silence, he looked up again, noticing him staring at something in front of them: following his gaze, he realized Mac was looking at the crutch he left against the wall. “Yeah, that... That’s way harder to use than it seems, you know?” he said with a sad grin. 

“You couldn’t walk?” 

“No, I... I Injured my leg during the last raid, so I had to use two of those for a few weeks. Still managed to broke one falling downstairs.” Jack laughed a bit, looking down. “Dropped my gun that time… I fell again trying to pick that up, got angry and- and I shot the ceiling. Not a fun time, but it got better after-“ turning to him, Jack suddenly stopped: Mac was crying. “Hey- it wasn’t that bad. I’m used to-“ 

“Come back home,” Mac said moving those incredibly sad, blue eyes on him, voice cracking right at the end. “You don’t have to stay here alone. Just- come back to LA.” 

Jack couldn’t hide his confusion. He saw him crying maybe twice since they first met… And if something managed to push Angus MacGyver _that_ far, things were serious.

Still, Jack couldn't bring himself to lie to him- especially not now. He took a deep breath, his eyes getting watery as well before he gently hugged him in silence.

Mac didn’t return the gesture right away, but when he did, Jack felt him grasping the back of his shirt as hard as he could. 

Jack heard him crying and tried his best not to do the same because his friend needed him, now… Or maybe they simply needed each other. So much that it was painful just trying to talk.


	2. Chapter 2

They spent the rest of the evening eating the dinner Jack prepared, the atmosphere more relaxed now than it was before. Starting from little talks, Mac then kept the conversation going telling him about the others; about Riley, of course, and how they all were still waiting to see him come back to Los Angeles. 

It was past midnight when Jack offered him to stay at the ranch for the night and Mac accepted, taking the couch in the living room. 

“You sure?” Jack asked him, “I have a spare room with a bathroom upstairs…” 

“The couch’s fine. Thanks.” Mac said with a little smile as he walked back inside after taking a bag from the car. 

Jack didn't insist, but told him to search and use anything he needed in the house; once the couch was set, they said goodnight and parted ways.

Lying in bed, upstairs, Jack spent hours thinking about what happened that day… He kept turning under the sheets, barely getting any sleep until he eventually gave up. Sighing, he passed both hands over his face and stood up at five in the morning. Carefully walking down the corridor, he listened for any sound that would tell him Mac was awake, but heard nothing. 

Going downstairs as stealthily as possible, he then peeked in the dark living room: leaning above the couch, he found Mac sleeping peacefully, lying on one side, covered by the blanket Jack gave him- the biggest he was able to find in the house.

Jack sighed, relieved by the fact that his friend was actually there- that he didn’t imagine the whole thing. Scratching the back of his neck he then moved to the entrance, grabbing his cellphone from the kitchen table and carefully opening the door, stepping outside: the air was cold, but not enough to be unpleasant. 

Jack looked around, thinking for a moment before turning the cellphone on, staring at one specific number. Wandering around Mac’s pickup, he finally decided to call… And got an answer almost immediately. 

“About time.” 

Jack smiled a bit, looking down, “Hey Matty.” 

A sigh, “It’s good to hear you, Jack.” 

“Good to hear you too.” 

“I take it Mac is with you?” 

“How do you-? Riley tracked him down?” 

“No need. I assumed he wanted to meet you when he asked me a few days off.” 

“Didn’t you send him here to retrieve some documents?” 

“Not that I’m aware of?” She said, sounding puzzled.

Jack looked back at the house, wondering if Mac actually came up with that story just as an excuse... It made his heart melt a bit. 

“Is everything alright?” Matty asked. 

“Yeah… Yes, he- he’s sleeping on my couch.” 

“Is he?” she asked, surprised. 

“I told him to use the spare room but he said no...” 

“Well, I’m surprised he’s sleeping in the first place.” 

Jack frowned, “Why?” 

“I think he hasn’t been sleeping much lately.” 

“Really? He didn’t tell me about that.” 

“Of course he didn’t. What did you expect?” 

"Good point," Jack sighed, leaning against the pickup's door. 

“Maybe he just needed to leave the city for a while...” she continued. 

Jack frowned, “Did something happened…? Since I left?” 

“Hell on Earth happened, basically,” Matty sighed, her voice low and tired. “I don’t think he wasn’t expecting you to leave like that. If I have to be honest, none of us did.” 

“You know everything had been planned months before… You told them, right?” 

“And you think that made things easier? He kept asking me to send him to help you every day, for weeks.” 

Just imagining Mac there, hunting Kovac with him, and seeing what he has seen… Jack almost felt sick. “Thank you for not letting him.” 

Matty took a deep breath. “I was able to read part the reports only later on,” she then said, “I had no idea-“ 

“Me either, but that’s what happens in that kind of operations,” he interrupted, voice more serious. “Anyways, Kovac’s dead. Still a win.” 

There was a brief silence, then Matty said, “Jack, you did what was necessary to stop a terrorist and a murdered.” 

He looked away, “Matty-“ 

“Whatever happened during that raid-” 

“I know. I know what you’re trying to say,” Jack took a deep, shattered breath in, “Just… Can we not bring that up right now?” 

There was another moment of silence, then Matty asked, “So, is Mac going to drag you back home against your will?” 

Jack scoffed, “So far, he just asked me. While we were having dinner...” 

“And…?” 

“And, I don’t know yet,” he said, expecting her to insist, to call you an idiot and order him to come back- but there was none of that. 

“If you need more time, that’s fine, but don’t forget that this is your home,” Matty said instead. “We’ll always be here for you.” 

“You really want to make me cry, huh?” he laughed nervously, passing a hand over his eyes. 

“I just wanted you to know,” she said. “Whenever you’ll feel ready, we all will be here, waiting for you.”

Later in the morning, Jack was flipping one of the last pancakes when he noticed a blonde head appearing from the couch. “Look who’s finally awake.”

Mac turned to him, eyes still half-closed, his hair a mess. “’Morning…” 

“Kinda late for that, bud.” 

“What time is it…?” 

“Uh- past ten,” Jack said sending a look at the clock. 

“ _What?_ ” Mac jumped on his feet, trying to wake up as fast as possible. 

“It’s alright. You’re off duty, remember? Unless you need to go back to Dallas?” Jack casually asked, putting the last pancake into a plate.

“No, but… I had a flight.” 

Jack stopped with the dish halfway to the table, turning to him. “You mean- back to LA?” 

“Yeah… Two hours ago.” 

They stared at each other until both laughed. “Sorry, I had no idea... You didn’t tell me!” Jack said.

“It’s fine. I should be able to reschedule…” Mac sighed grabbing his phone. 

“At least you’ll have time for breakfast. This is my family's recipe, you know?” 

“What’s this smell…?” Mac asked lifting his head, frowning. 

“Glad you noticed it. That’s-“ Jack stopped as he watched him running down the corridor, and then heard the bathroom’s door slamming shut, “vanilla extract, the secret ingredient…?” he finished leaning aside to look in the corridor, confused. He heard the water running for a while, and then Mac walked out, a bit paler. “You ok? Don’t tell me it was something you ate yesterday?” 

Mac slowly shook his head, taking a deep breath. “No, it’s… My stomach just started to hate that smell lately.” 

“The vanilla smell?” 

“Yeah…” Mac noticed him staring curiously, “Guess I’m getting old,” he smiled weakly. 

“It might be just temporary. I remember when I was a kid I couldn’t stand the pumpkin smell. It lasted maybe a year, then it just stopped bothering me.” Jack said walking back to the kitchen, opening a window to let the smell out, and then stared at the pancakes, “Well, hopefully Riley will like them cold.” 

Standing in the corridor, Mac frowned, “Riley? She- is she coming here?” 

“No, I’m going to her,” Jack said, enjoying the confusion on his face. “Hope you don’t mind if we take that flight together?” 

Mac blinked, “You’re coming back to LA?” 

“Yeah. I mean… I think I have been hiding here long enough. Time to go home, right?” Jack said. If he still had some doubts about that decision, they all vanished the moment he saw Mac smiling. It was the first sincere smile he saw on his face after two years.

* 

They managed to get on the same flight in the afternoon, and Jack dared to say Mac looked _happy_. It seemed like a shadow has lifted from him the moment Jack told him that he was going back to Los Angeles.

Jack had an idea about what could have been tormenting his friend, but he also didn’t want to ruin the unexpected good mood. They still needed to talk- he was sure Mac knew that as well, but, maybe, they both wanted to be at home to do that. 

The flight passed by without problems, Jack even managed to sleep for a bit, and then, in a few hours, they were back in Los Angeles. 

“Riley told me they’re all still at the Phoenix,” Mac said putting his phone away as they headed to the exit. “You want to go there right away or stop at your place first?” 

“You kidding? I can’t wait to see her face when I get there,” Jack smiled, hailing a taxi. “You guys took care of my car, right?” 

“Uh, yeah?” Mac said, noticing him giving a stern look, “I mean, we- we never used it…” 

“I gave you guys the keys and all and no one touched the car? You need to rebel more.” He scoffed watching the other smiling a bit, looking outside the windshield while they left the airport. 

They reached the Phoenix Foundation in the evening, and only then Jack realized how much he has missed that place. Once inside the building, he couldn’t stop smiling at how familiar everything felt- even just walking down the corridor with Mac next to him. 

Mac noticed it. “What is it?” he asked with a puzzled smile. 

“Nothing… I’m just happy to be back.” 

“Well, that's good to hear,” he said opening the door for him. 

As Jack stepped inside, Matty looked at him, surprised at first, but smiling right away; Riley was sitting on the couch, busy with her laptop. 

“Riley,” Mac called, smiling. 

“Hi… Mac. Welcome ba-“ she finished what she was doing and looked up, the smile instantly turning into a shocked expression. 

Jack smiled caringly at her. “Hey, Riley.” 

She stood up, the computer almost falling to the floor. Looking between the two, she then asked Jack, “What- when did you came back?” 

“Uh, forty minutes ago? More or less,” Jack said. “Someone convinced me to get on the plane,” he added, sending a look at Mac that just smiled slightly. As no one moved, Jack looked around and said, “If you want me to go back to Texas-?” 

“No! No, I-“ Riley quickly reached him, trapping him into a hug. “I can’t believe you’re here!” 

“Yeah, same,” Jack breathed out, returning the gesture and caressing her head, fighting back the tears. “Sorry it took me so long- OW!” 

“Three months!” Riley yelled punching him on his side, “You came back to the States three months ago and couldn’t even call?!” 

“I wanted to-“ 

“You just had to grab the phone and press a button!” 

“I know. I know, I…” Jack sighed, noticing her watery eyes. “I’m sorry.” 

Riley shook her head and hugged him again. “Don’t make me worry like this ever again, got it?” 

“Yes ma’am,” Jack smiled. As they parted, he grinned and said, “You’re scary when you’re angry,” making her laugh a bit. “By the way… Isn’t someone missing?” 

“Where’s Bozer?” Mac asked. 

“He got home a while ago,” Riley said, “I would have told him to wait if I knew you two were coming here,” she added patiently, as Jack simply winked at her.

“I’ll give him a call,” Mac said grabbing his cellphone while walking outside the briefing room. 

“Hey- think it’s too late to throw a little party?” Jack asked him, “I’m starving, and some pizza would sound great right now. It’s all on me.” 

Mac seemed taken aback for a second, standing in the doorway, “Ah, sure… Yeah, I think-“ 

“I’ll take care of it,” Riley said walking outside with him, “I know a place…” 

As the two left, Jack watched the door closing and took a deep breath. Turning around, he found Matty staring at him, and gave her a nod, “Matty.” 

“Jack.” 

“You don’t want to punch me as well? Here, come on, I deserve it,” he said sitting on the coffee table and closing his eyes. As no hit came, he peeked with one eye, “Are you going to strike when I least expect it? Because I don’t think my nerves can deal with that right now…” 

Matty sighed, and her expression softened, “I’m just glad you made it back.” 

Jack didn’t know if it was her voice, or just the fact that she picked those specific words- maybe the ones he needed to hear the most. He nodded slightly, kneeling on the floor to hug her, forcing himself not to cry.

It was too late to reach Jack’s apartment, so they opted to move the party to Mac’s house.

As soon as Jack stepped inside, he felt like crying all over again, but it was when he saw Bozer dropping his phone in shock, tears instantly filling his eyes, that he just gave up and they hugged, sobbing about how much they have missed each other. 

“Didn’t you tell Bozer that Jack was coming?” Matty asked. 

“I did. He thought I was joking.” Mac said with a shrug.

“Well, that’s gonna take a while... Just let them be for now.” Riley laughed while she, Mac and Matty moved to the kitchen. 

The pizza arrived just when the fireplace outside was lit. They all sat around it, eating, filling up Jack about the things he missed in the last two years. 

It was 1 AM when Jack found himself alone in front of the fire with what was left of his beer. Staring into the flames, he then turned, watching Matty walking next to him. “You’re leaving?” 

“Yes. It’s getting late.” 

“Don’t tell me the others have fallen asleep inside?” 

She smiled, shaking her head, “They’re doing some cleaning…” 

“I can help-” 

“And they told me to tell you that all you have to do is relax.” She said, placing a hand over his shoulder to stop him. “It’s just pizza boxes. They can handle it.” 

Jack nodded, sitting back down. “You know, I made a campfire outside the ranch too… I actually used it for a while, after I came back, but then it just kept reminding me of this,” he said gesturing at the fire with the bottle, “About how much I missed all this.” 

“We missed you too. Especially them,” she said, tilting her head towards the house. 

He saw that coming. “How are they holding up? I mean, really?” 

Matty took a deep breath, “They were hurt, but respected your decision. Except Mac, for course,” she said, watching him lower his gaze. “Despite knowing what happened that day, it took him a while to stop blaming himself for your decision to leave… But he’s stronger than he looks.” 

“And even more than that.” Jack nodded. “I told him I wasn't leaving because of him, but I knew he wouldn’t have believed me... At least he listened to you.”

“I’m sure you both will get better now that you’re back.” 

“Matty, I… Yes, I’m here, but that doesn’t mean that I…” 

“I know. You can take all the time you need,” she nodded. 

He took a deep breath, then looked back down, “I was considering resigning.” 

Matty wasn’t surprised, but didn’t comment, waiting for him to continue. 

“Going after Kovac was something I had to do, but…” he sighed, shaking his head, “I should have called myself out the moment it turned into a CIA operation.” 

“You were not supposed to be under their orders." 

“Things change once you’re on the field, we both know that,” Jack said with a bitter smile. “At some point, all that matters is complete the mission.” 

Matty’s expression was colder now, but also sad. “You should have called us. Call me. If they forced you to-”

“They didn’t force me to do anything. We were too close to Kovac,” Jack said looking at the bottle in his hands. "There was no turning back."

They kept quiet until Matty moved closer to him and said, “You’re still the best operative I’ve ever worked with, Jack, and I'll fight anyone to keep you in my team,” she gently grabbed his arm and he looked at her, "but that has to be your choice. So, if you need more time- if you need space…” 

“I can’t leave them again,” Jack said, voice lower and sadder. “I just can’t. Mac would never forgive me.” 

“The only thing Mac wouldn’t forgive would be himself, for not being able to help you," she said. "I think that’s what hurt him the most when you left. He wanted to help, but you didn’t give him the chance.” 

Jack tried to say something, but those words hit painfully close to home, so, all he could do was looking down again. 

“I know you two have a lot to talk about, but there’s time for that, ok?” Matty told him. “Right now, we deserve a good night of sleep. I think we all need it.” 

Jack breathed out and nodded. “Yeah... You’re probably right.” He said, and she turned to leave. “Matty?” he stopped her one last time, “Thank you.”

Matty smiled and walked back inside. Looking on the left, she found Mac standing next to the window. “Same goes for you, blondie. Get some rest.” 

Mac nodded, smiling slightly. As she left, he looked at Jack, sitting there alone. Mac took a step outside, but then stopped. Thinking for a second, he then turned around, walking back to the kitchen.

_“You do remember why we’re here, right?”_

_“I do.”_

_“Then what’s the fucking problem?”_

_“The problem is that he’s not alone-”_

_“Ok, and again, what’s the problem?”_

_Silence._

_“You know the plan. We’re gonna end it tonight, Dalton. Now get in there and do what you’re paid for.”_

Jack woke up with a jump, grabbing whoever was leaning over him. 

“WOAH- man, it’s me!” Bozer yelped, hands up. 

Blinking fast, it took Jack a few seconds to remember: no more Texas, not the ranch; he was back in Los Angeles, and that was Mac’s house… Everything was fine. 

“Sorry... My bad.” He breathed out, letting him go.

“Didn’t mean to scare you, but you were going to fall down the couch. Bad dreams?” Bozer asked.

“Uh, I don’t know, can’t remember,” Jack lied, sitting up and passing both hands over his face before looking around, “Where are the others?” 

“Matty called for assemble. Mac and Riley are already there.” 

“Then we should go too,” Jack stood up and noticed Bozer’s apologetic look… It didn’t take him too long to understand. “Right… Assemble is for operative agents only." 

Bozer sighed, “Look, the Phoenix is always open for you. If you want to come with me, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

“No- it’s fine, don’t worry,” Jack said forcing out a smile that didn’t convince anyone. “I already told Matty that I’m not ready for the field. I’m sure you guys have been doing great even without me.” 

“We’ll do better now, knowing that you’re back.” 

Jack smiled more sincerely, “Don't make me cry again, man,” he said as they hugged again.

“Sorry,” Bozer laughed, patting on his back. “I’m serious, though,” he continued as they parted, “If you want to join us…” 

“Maybe next time. I still have to check my apartment and- some other things I left behind for two years.” He said, “You guys have fun and come back in one piece, alright?” 

Bozer nodded, smiling at him before leaving. 

Once alone in the living room, Jack tried to remember: after Matty left, the night before, he talked with Riley outside, then the others joined them for a while; Mac told him he could stay there for the night… And that was pretty much it. 

_We still need to talk,_ Jack sighed. He knew Mac well enough to know he was waiting for the perfect moment to start the conversation… _Problem is, I have no idea when and if that moment is going to happen_ , Jack told himself, staring at the fireplace outside. 

Deep down, he wished they could just ignore the past and move on, but knowing Mac has spent the last two years blaming himself- maybe even wondering if he lost Jack’s trust… Clearly, that was still an open wound, and Mac deserved to heal as well. _I owe him that much_ , Jack thought, heading to the kitchen, watching old photographs attached on the fridge: the ones with him in it were still there.

* 

Sadly, Jack’s determination couldn’t do anything against Matty’s orders. When a mission suddenly came up, just a few days later, she quickly barked the team off- except for Jack, of course.

He didn’t complain. He wasn’t expecting to join them, but he couldn’t deny knowing his friends were out there without him… It hurt a bit- and he felt ashamed about it since he has done the same thing to them, for two years. 

It took Mac and the others almost a week to save the politician and stop the rebels that had kidnapped his family. 

When Matty walked back into the briefing room, the morning after the mission has been officially declared closed, she wasn’t surprised to find him sitting there. “Jack,” she welcomed him. "How are you doing?” 

Jack opened his mouth, closed it, and then frowned, “Is this some kind of test?” 

“Excuse me?” She asked, lifting her eyebrows. 

Jack studied her for a second, then looked away. “Sorry, I… I thought you were going to ask me why I'm here..." 

“ _I know_ why are you here," she patiently said. "The others are fine and the mission was a success. They should be home in six hours."

He sighed, relieved. “That’s good.” 

“They learned from the best,” she said, and, noticing his surprised look, added, “And with that, I mean both of us.” 

Jack smiled, nodding. “True. I just... I guess I miss going out with the gang.” 

“You will. As soon as you’ll feel ready, you just have to tell me.” 

He took a deep breath and nodded, “Thanks.” 

Matty then briefly looked at the screen, “I need to leave for a moment. If Mac calls, answer for me, ok?” 

“What? But-“ 

“I’ll be back in a minute.” 

_I should have known_ , he told himself, watching her walking out of the room. After a while, he heard a beep repeating from the screen on the wall. Collecting his courage, he stood up and accepted the call. 

Mac appeared on the screen a few seconds later, looking at something past the camera; when his eyes moved down, his serious expression switched to a puzzled one, “Jack?” 

“Hey,” he smiled nervously, “Matty just left... She’ll be back soon.” From the bits of background visible behind him, Jack could tell they were on one of the Phoenix private jets.

“Ah- ok… Sorry, I- I wasn’t expecting to see you.” 

Jack watched him shaking his head, eyes closing briefly, and smiled a bit, knowing Mac was mentally pushing the report aside to focus on him. “ Yeah, I- just wanted to say hi.” 

Mac nodded, smiling a bit. “How are you?” 

“Good. I’m still on vacation, so I took the chance to rewatch my movie collection all over again.” 

“That should keep you busy for months…?” 

“Didn’t say I’m done with it yet,” Jack commented, making him laugh. “What about you? Everything’s alright?” 

“Yes… It took us a while to find the guy, but he’s safe and back with his family.” 

“That’s great. Well done.” 

Mac nodded again. When he was going to say something, Bozer suddenly jumped into the view yelling, “Heyyy Jack!” 

“Hey, Bozer- man… Mind turn it down a notch?” Jack groaned, squinting his eyes at the volume spiked painfully. 

“It’s sooo good to see you!” 

“Jack’s on the call?” Riley chimed in, and a moment later she crashed on the other two to look, “Hi Jack!” 

“Hey, kiddo… Are you guys drunk?” Jack asked, unsure, laughing when Bozer gasped a very offended “No!”, while Riley grinned and said “Maybe?” at the same time.

“The- the rebels had some illegal traffic going on outside the city,” Mac tried to explain while holding the other two over his shoulder. “Had to burn everything down… And they got smoked. Literally.” 

Jack’s expression turned more serious, “Are you- you mean they’re high on drugs?” 

“I got them both checked up already, don’t worry. It’s- nothing dangerous,” he said, squeezed against the plane’s window.

“Ok…?" Jack commented, not fully convinced, "Mission over, party on, I guess?” 

“Exactly!” Both Bozer and Riley smiled. She then slapped a hand over her mouth and ran away. 

“Imma go check she’s ok,” Bozer laughed while leaving as well. 

Jack smiled in sympathy as Mac was able to sit straight again, “How come you’re not over the moon like them?” 

“Made a mask before starting the fire. The wind changed after that, and they were not far enough,” Mac sighed, “I told them I had everything under control, but…”

“Come on, you said it yourself, you knew beforehand the situation wasn’t dangerous,” Jack said, trying to make him feel better because that guilty look was the only thing he didn't want to see on Mac's face. Not again. Possibly, never again. “Don’t think too much about it, ok? I’d say you earned at least a drink.” 

“Not really in the mood for that…” 

“Please. You love those cocktails with flowers and little umbrellas,” Jack scoffed sitting on the coffee table.

“They can offer lots of resources if necessary,” Mac objected, but then looked away, leaning against the seat, “and yes, they’re good.” 

Jack smiled, shaking his head. “Well, smoked or not, it’s nice to see the team is going strong.” 

"Yeah..." Mac nodded looking past the camera again, probably at Bozer and Riley, “They helped me a lot in the last years.” 

Jack’s smile slowly faded as he lowered his gaze. 

Mac looked back at him, realizing what he just said. “I- Jack, I didn’t mean-“ 

“It’s alright. You’re not wrong on that,” he stopped him, and they kept quiet for a moment. When Jack looked up, it was Mac, now, keeping his eyes down. They were both good at hiding things, but he knew Mac’s façade wasn’t as hard to break as his… Jack saw through those cracks more than once. 

“Mac?” he called, and the other looked up. “Once you get home, can we talk? Just you and me?” Jack could see him tensing up even through the video. “Like the old times, you know? No filters and all that...” 

“Yeah… Yes, we should talk,” Mac nodded. “I just…” he continued, but then didn’t finish, looking down again. 

Jack felt sad for making him feel like that. “If there’s something you want to tell me now- and I mean anything…?” 

“I don’t want you to-“ Mac started again, but the video stopped working, along with the audio. 

Jack’s eyes scanned the whole screen, “Mac? Can you hear me?” 

“-that. Jack? The- working?” Mac’s voice kept breaking as much as the image until the screen turned blue and the words _No signal_ appeared on it. 

Jack breathed out, “Damn it…” 

“We lost the signal?” Matty asked walking back inside. 

“Yeah… Perfect timing too.” He groaned.

“The pilot warned me there was a storm on their way. They’ll be back soon, anyway.” She turned to him, “Are you going to be fine until then?” 

“Yeah… I’m just worried about him. We still need to talk things out, so…” 

“So?” 

He noticed her staring intently, waiting. “So, the first thing I’ll do tomorrow morning will be going to his house with a giant breakfast and- do that. Talk to him.” 

Matty kept staring, until a satisfied smile formed on her lips, “I’m sure that’d be a good start.” 

“I’ll have to mentally prepare for it...” He sighed while standing up. 

“Starting now?” Matty asked, confused, "Is it such a bad situation?" 

“Yeah... Wait, what? No, I- Bozer asked me to check on their house while they’re gone, so I'll go there first, and then mentally prepare for tomorrow.” 

“Jack.” She called him, and he stopped in the doorway, turning to her. “That’s really all you have to do. Just talk to him.” 

He took a deep breath and nodded, smiling a bit before leaving.

Driving away from the Phoenix Foundation, Jack kept wondering what Mac tried to say before. _“I don’t want you to stay? I don’t want you to talk to me? I don’t want you around us anymore?_

Jack shifted on the seat, tightly holding the wheel with both hands, forcing those thoughts away. He was sure Mac didn’t mean anything like that… _Or did he?_

He turned the engine off and looked at the house for a while before heading to the entrance, using the spare key Bozer gave him. Once inside, he noticed a little note flying over the floor, as if someone passed it under the door. 

Frowning, Jack took it: it was from the neighbors, saying they were keeping a package left for Mac. Walking in the kitchen, only then Jack noticed water on the floor, under the sink. “Crap,” he murmured, quickly going to check the problem. “Nope. Not gonna mess with it,” he stopped himself and grabbed his wallet to pick a business card from it, writing the number on his phone and sending a message; then, hesitating for a second, he made a call. 

There was no answer, so he left a message, “Hey, Mac, it’s me. I’m at your house. There’s a little problem with the kitchen, but I just asked a friend to come and take a look, so don’t worry. Everything’s under control…” Jack paused a moment, then said, “We’ll talk tomorrow morning, ok? And I don’t mean it as a threat, I just… We’re trying to brush everything off as nothing happened, but that’s not fair to you. I left you hanging for two years- and I’m sorry about that. About everything. I really am.” With a sigh, he looked down at the note still in his hand, “A-anyway, the neighbors got a package for you while you were gone, so I’m going to-” the time for the message ended just then. Jack sighed nervously, staring at the phone, considering leaving another one. 

_Just wait for tomorrow. That’ll be enough time for him to make a run for it if he doesn’t want to talk,_ Jack told himself, putting the phone away. Scanning the place one last time, he then left the house. The closest house was on the left, so he headed down the hill.

Jack couldn’t remember the last time Mac or Bozer mentioned their neighbors, but he has been gone for two years… Maybe they got closer during that time. 

Heading to their door, Jack noticed the _Wyatt_ surname on the mailbox. The house was smaller than Mac’s, but three floors tall, with large trees all around. Jack knocked on the door twice. 

It was a man who opened it, with thick glasses on his nose, dressed in an elegant suit. He gave him a curious look, “Yes?” 

“Hi. Sorry to bother, I’m Mac’s friend- uh, MacGyver, I mean, your neighbor. I found the message about a package for him that you’re keeping?” Jack asked, showing the note. 

The man looked between the message and Jack a few times, then nodded, “Oh, yes. Of course… Come on in.” he said turning around, leaving the door open, “Sorry, I completely forgot about it. Kinda busy.” 

“No problem. Thanks for keeping it while he’s gone.” Jack said stepping inside: the house was as normal as any other house would be. There was a sweet smell in the air- perfume or… _Pancakes?_ , Jack thought, deciding he was going to make some once back at home. 

“The courier said it’s the third time that he can’t contact MacGyver in a month, so decided to leave it here.” The man continued.

“Yeah, he’s a busy guy,” Jack said with a smile, watching the man opening a door next to the kitchen’s entryway. 

“Thought so,” the man laughed and then turned as a phone started ringing. “That must be my wife. Look, the box it’s in the garage, you can’t miss it. I really have to answer that,” he sighed quickly heading to another room. 

“Sure…” Jack said, trying not to smile too much. As he walked past the door, he found the garage clean and in order; an old, blue Buick Riviera taking most of the space. Jack let out a surprised whistle, “Wasn’t expecting to find this beauty sleeping in here,” he commented admiring it for a while before looking for the box- that he found under a table. Jack crouched to grab it: it wasn’t heavy, but then he stopped as he noticed something behind it, on the floor... A stained blanket covering something pretty big. 

Without a particular reason, Jack slowly grabbed it with two fingers, letting part of the blanket slide down, exposing a bloodied hand underneath. 

_“Just like the old times, right, Dalton?”_

Jack dropped the box and stepped back, bumping against the car. Moving a hand to the gun on his back, Jack then flinched and slammed his other hand over his neck, eyes widening as he found a little needle on his palm- then, he started losing his balance. 

He tried to grab the phone but it slipped from his hand. Cursing, Jack watched it swirling on the floor while he fell on his knees, slamming both hands on the concrete to stay up while his vision started to get blurry. 

With his mind drifting, he tried to focus on the phone, aware of someone coming from the kitchen. 

Jack managed to shoot once before crashing down, unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and down we go...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to get plotty

__

_Two years + three months before_

_“Ok... I got it,” Mac said pulling a cable out of the wall and cutting it with his pocketknife._

_“The control room is just two floors below. Need to be fast, Mac, we don't have much time,” Riley told him via the comm._

_“Six minutes is- enough to get out of here,” he said pushing the automatic door open just enough for him to squeeze through and ran downstairs._

_“Yeah, but it would be nice not going into overtime, for a change,” she commented._

_“We can try,” he smiled. “Riley, once I get there-”_

_“You guys will be on your own, I know. I'll keep trying to restore the signal, but, in the meanwhile, you get the others and leave, ok? The doors upstairs are open.”_

_He nodded, “Ok, thanks.”_

_“Their system is extremely locked, so be careful. I can't tell if they-“ Riley’s voice faltered then, a low rasping sound taking its place as Mac reached the third floor._

_He didn't meet anyone running down the corridor, the laboratories he saw filled with people just minutes before, were now empty. A gunshot made him stop on his track, turning to the right. After passing another corner, his shoulders dropped in relief, “Jack!”_

_Jack turned around, gun in one hand, and nervously shook his head, “You know, my phone isn’t just here to be destroyed-“_

_“Listen, we need-“_

_“so it would be nice of you to answer my calls once in your life!”_

_“Sorry, I was busy taking care of two bombs upstairs!” Mac said while studying the situation: Jack was locked inside the control room, a glass separating them- bulletproof, considering the bullet he could see stuck into it._

_“Yeah, and I was- wait, what? _Two bombs_?!” Jack gasped._

_“Yes, but that’s not a problem right now. The bombs were connected, and I think there’s another one around but I haven't found it yet, so-”_

_“Does your bomb looks like that one?” Jack sighed, gesturing behind himself with the gun._

_Mac frowned, then followed his gaze: the last, large explosive was located right in the middle of the control room, and, apparently, a perfect copy of the other two. Before Mac could focus on it, he was surprised to see someone else in the room. “Ethan?” he called, as the police officer appeared from behind one of the desks, trying to stand, visibly in pain._

_“I told you not to move,” Jack said running to him just when the man was about to collapse._

_Only then Mac noticed the blood on Ethan’s hand, placed on his stomach. “What happened?”_

_“We got company. They shot him before leaving us in here,” Jack explained, making sure the man was sitting safely on the floor before walking back to the other._

_“Ok… We need to open this door first,” Mac said while scanning the glass and then moving to the panel on the left._

_Jack leaned forward to look, “I saw them using a code on that. Maybe you can-“ he stopped as he watched Mac removing a long screwdriver that has been stuck into the panel, clearly with the intention to make it useless, and looking at him with a tense glare. “Nevermind, no code. Backups?”_

_“On their way, but we don’t have time to wait for them, so I have to get you guys out.” Mac took a step back, then looked at him, “The panel on your side still works?”_

_Jack looked at it, shaking his head, “Looks dead to me.”_

_“Did you mess with it? Did you shot at it?”_

_“What-? No, I didn't,” Jack snapped, offended. “I just shot the glass.” He added looking at the bullet._

_“They wanted to lock us out…”_

_“More like they locked us **in**.” _

_“I mean out of the system. That’s why Riley can’t access this floor.”_

_Jack let him think for a second, then said, “Well, we’ll manage. As always, right?”_

_Ethan cried in pain then, trying to move again, “We can’t- stay here,” he panted._

_“We won’t, but there isn’t much we can do from here, so let the wizard do his magic, alright?” Jack told him, trying to keep him still._

_“Just- find a way to get out, Dalton,” Ethan told him, gasping slightly with every breath he took. “I don’t think I’m- going anywhere at this point.”_

_“Oh, you will. I’ve made a promise to your lady, didn’t I?” Jack scoffed, “To bring her husband back home safe and sound, and you know me, I keep my promises.”_

_Ethan smiled painfully, coughing, “I know, but… It’s alright… You saved me once, already…”_

_“I guess after today one beer won’t be enough, then.” He nodded, making him laugh a bit._

_Mac forced himself to ignore them, looking for a way to get them out of that room before Jack’s old friend could bleed to death- or the bomb exploding. _There must be a way… There's always a way..._ _

_“Mac?”_

_“There are some vents you could use, but it's too high…” he said frantically looking left and right._

_“Ok, listen-“_

_“I have to break the glass. It’s bulletproof, but I just need-“_

_“ **Mac.** ” _

_He blinked and looked at Jack, now standing in front of him again, on the other side of the glass._

_“I know you’ll find a way to get us out,” Jack told him, “and I have to keep Ethan alive long enough to walk him back to his family. So, how about we both take a deep breath and make this work? Sounds good?”_

_Mac nodded, doing as he asked. “I remember I saw something in the lab, down the corridor… I’ll be right back.”_

_Jack nodded as well and moved to go help Ethan- but then his eyes glanced at the bomb’s timer. “Uh- Mac?”_

_“What?” He asked stopping and turning around._

_“Why does it say forty seconds here?”_

_Mac frowned, doing some quick math. “No, it’s- it’s probably three minutes and forty seconds.”_

_“It says just forty seconds,” Jack repeated, looking up at him._

_Mac turned around one more time, and, from Jack’s expression, he could tell he was serious. His brain came to an abrupt halt. “Check again.”_

_“I know how to read a timer. It says thirty-two seconds now. Thirty-one… Thirty…”_

__It can’t be. What? No. That’s wrong. That’s not the right time. _Mac found himself in complete denial, but Ethan’s cries forced him out of it. “The bombs have been activated at the same time, we know that. The timer shouldn’t be different,” Mac told him moving back to the glass, thinking about every little thing he has done and seen while deactivating the other two bombs, just minutes before. “Did you notice anything? The bomb made any sound or-?”_

_“I didn’t hear anything, but the energy jumped a few times,” Jack said, briefly looking at the bomb, “Maybe that messed up the timer?”_

_“They’re not connected to the electric system…” Mac murmured in monotone, lost in his thoughts. Part of him wanted to believe the timer was just malfunctioning, but what if it wasn’t just that? Half of his job was about calculating risks, and with less than twenty-five seconds to work with and two lives on the line..._

_“Talk to me, man…” Jack murmured nervously, ready to move. Ready to do whatever Mac was going to tell him._

_Mac pushed down his own stubbornness that wanted to insist the timer was wrong, and looked at him, shaking his head, “I’ll keep trying opening this door, but you both need to take cover- behind those servers. They should hold.”_

_Jack took a deep breath and nodded, quickly moved to Ethan, “Come on big guy, change of plans...”_

_“T-the door’s still closed,” he said, gasping in pain as Jack tried to push him up._

_“He’s working on it, don’t worry.”_

_Mac’s eyes scanned the entire control room one more time, looking for something- anything that could help him come up with a solution, but, even if there was one, less than twenty seconds were not enough to deactivate the bomb... All he could do now to save them was opening that door. He rushed to the panel and started opening it with the screwdriver._

_“Jack- please,” Ethan cried, grabbing his ar, “I can’t- I can’t move…”_

_“You were ready to leave just a second ago, come on.”_

_“If that thing- is going to explode-”_

_“Damn it, Ethan, stand up!”_

_“Guys, you need to take cover,” Mac told him, moving an arm inside the panel and jumping back when a cable gave him a shock._

_“Working on it!” Jack barked._

_“Just go!” Ethan yelled at him again._

_Mac stepped back and looked into the room, fear breaching into his voice as he watched them, “You can’t stay there! You’re completely exposed to the bomb-!”_

_“I’m not leaving him here!” Jack angrily told him before continuing to help his friend._

_Mac saw Jack angry before, but not like that. As tried to insist, the explosion forced him to shut his eyes: the whole building trembled and Mac fell on the floor, covering his head with both arms as debris started falling all over him._

_As everything stopped, Mac opening his eyes, covered in dust and pieces of glass. Coughing, he sat up and checked the surroundings: the door has been partly destroyed, a large chunk of glass missing on the right side of it._

_“Jack…?” he called stumbling up on his feet, ears still ringing after the blast. Carefully moving inside the control room, he coughed more, fire and smoke filling the air. “Jack!” he called again, getting more worried by the second._

_Reaching the point where he last saw them, Mac only found bloodstains on the floor. As his thoughts started switching to the worst possible scenario, he noticed a body lying under a burning desk that has been flipped upside down. Getting closer to it, his eyes widened, “Jack!”_

_Mac kneeled down and turned him on his back: the man was bleeding from the side of his head; half of his jacket burned- and, from the smell, Mac feared the skin below it hasn’t been spared from the fire. Grabbing his hand and checking for a pulse, Mac breathed out in relief as he found it. “Jack?” he called again, gently moving him by the shoulder._

_Jack’s eyes opening slightly then, as he coughed._

_“Still with me?” Mac asked, and the other nodded slightly._

_“Ethan…?” Jack asked, groaning in pain, but the other didn’t answer. He blinked, instantly forcing himself not to blackout, “Where- where is he?”_

_“I don’t-” Mac tried to stop him as the agent scrambled back on his feet, and quickly moved Jack’s arm over his shoulder to support him, “You hit your head. You shouldn’t-”_

_“We need to find Ethan,” he insisted, looking around, “He couldn’t move…” Jack murmured as they walked around the room- until he suddenly stopped, forcing the other to do the same._

_Following his gaze, Mac’s heart dropped as he saw Ethan’s body laying not too far, face down, almost completely burnt from the explosion, a large gash on his back._

_“He pushed me away…” Jack almost whispered, “He…” he shook his head, looking down._

_Mac started feeling as if he couldn't breathe._

_“What the hell happened?” Jack then asked him, voice low and cold._

_“I- I don’t-“_

_“Don't- no, ok? No,“ Jack angrily stopped him, “Don’t tell me you don’t know. Don’t-“_

_“The timer wasn’t supposed to-“ Mac was expecting the anger, but not being pushed away hard enough to almost lose his balance. Meeting his friend’s furious glare was just the final blow that crashed him._

_“You said there was time,” Jack said. “You said-“_

_“The bombs were exactly the same-“_

_“Does this looks like we had three minutes to you?!” Jack screamed at him, gesturing at the devastated room._

_Mac was at the loss. He knew that after deactivating the second bomb, he had approximately six minutes to find and disable the last one; he also knew that, as he found Jack and Ethan, he had at least four minutes left, not forty seconds. He was sure of that, his calculations were correct- but something went wrong, and he had no idea what. All he knew was that the bomb exploded, Ethan was dead, and Jack survived just by a miracle._

_As he tried to say something, Jack turned around, limping towards his friend’s corpse._

_Mac stood there, staring at them as the reality of what happened started to crash on him. He watched the other falling on his knees next to Ethan, and flinched as Jack angrily cursed, his scream echoing in the control room like a thunder. Mac couldn’t bring himself to speak, nor look away from the man that died because of his mistake._

**Now**

Mac woke up slowly in the warmth of the car as it gently stopped at the red light. Blinking, he lazily looked around.

“Got some sleep?” Riley asked, sitting next to him, her bag placed between them. Spending few hours high on drugs left her exhausted. 

“Yeah,” he murmured passing both hands over his face, briefly looking outside, Los Angeles’ nightlights shining on the other side of the windshield. “How’s your headache?” 

“Not as painful as before... I’ll live,” she said with a little smile. “Matty sent me a message saying Bozer will stay at the Phoenix for tonight.” 

Mac straightened his posture, “Is he alright?” Both Riley and Bozer got checked up again once they landed, but it was taking so long and they were all so tired that Bozer just told them to go home without waiting for him.

“Yes, Matty said he fell asleep in the infirmary and decided to let him rest. They’ll take care of him.”

He breathed out, relaxing again, “I think we all deserve some rest after the last week.” 

"We definitely do," Riley nodded slowly. “Didn’t sound like you were having a good dream, though,” she added, and he turned to her. “I- heard you mumbling Ethan’s name in your sleep.” There was no judgment in her voice, just a worried friend.

Mac knew there was no point in lying to her. “It’s probably because of Jack… Because he’s back, I mean.” 

“You guys didn't talk about it while you were in Texas…?” 

He shook his head in no, “It's not like _I don’t want to_ , but Jack has been busy after he came back, and then we were sent off…” Mac noticed her smiling a bit, “What?” 

“Nothing… I'm glad that you want to talk with him.” 

He nodded slowly, looking away, commenting with a sarcastic, “It just took me three months to make up my mind...”

“Well, Jack keep you waiting for two years, so...” 

"I can't really blame him for that." 

Riley sighed. “You still believe Jack didn't forgive you for what happened that day, don’t you?” she asked, but he didn’t answer. “Mac, we know it wasn’t your fault. We checked everything five times... There was no time for us to do anything. We tried. _You_ tried, and Jack knows that.”

“I know, but... Every time I think about it, it feels like I should have done _something_ ,” he said. “It always feels like Ethan died because I made a mistake.” 

“Even in that case, that mistake would be on all of us, not just you.” Riley firmly said, but he kept looking down. “I know stopping the organization will never be enough, but it was the least we could do… Not letting Ethan’s death be in vain.” She sighed, looking down, "But I think Jack wanted to do more. Something to help him make peace with himself.”

_And I’m the one who made him feel like that. You didn’t see how angry he was… At me, because I let his friend being killed. I couldn’t do anything. If they both had died in that room…_

“Mac.”

He blinked, as Riley distracted him from his thoughts, and turned to her. 

“Jack doesn’t hate you. We both know he literally can't do that,” she said with a little smile. “He came back home with you, didn't he? Maybe he really just needed some time. To clear his head.” 

“Staying at the ranch didn't help him at all.” Mac couldn’t stop saying that, and he regretted it immediately. 

Riley, of course, didn’t miss it. “What do you mean?” 

“He… He wasn’t doing so well, all by himself. I think something happened during the time he spent after Kovac... And whatever it is, I don't think he's over it yet.” 

“I noticed that too… It's like he’s trying so hard to be his usual self when he’s around us?” 

Mac nodded. “Usually, he can fool me with that, but since the moment I saw him at the ranch… Something just feels off.” 

“Something he clearly doesn’t want us to know,” she said, thinking. “Should I check on it? I doubt Matty will tell us anything about Jack’s mission…” 

Mac thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No… No, we should wait for him to tell us. He did ask me to talk, tomorrow, so... Maybe he will bring that up? If he wants to.” 

“Maybe,” Riley said, then smiled a bit. “I hope you guys will talk everything out.” 

He nodded, “I hope so too.”

Once the car stopped at Riley’s apartment and they said goodnight, Mac took a deep breath, sitting alone in the back of the car. _Should I go to his house and talk things out now?_ he asked himself, unsure. 

Sitting straight, Mac grabbed his phone, just to find it dead. “Great…” he murmured, putting it back into his pocket. 

_“Once you get home, can we talk? Just you and me?”_

Mac sighed nervously. He wasn’t expecting Jack to be camping outside his house to talk- not that night, anyway, but still... 

When the car stopped again, in front of Mac’s house, he took his bag and thanked the driver, heading up the hill: all the lights were off, even the one on the front porch, meaning Jack was not there, or else he would have left at least one light on, knowing they were coming back.

Once inside, the place was quiet and in order. Mac knew Jack wasn’t going to suddenly jump out of a corner- they were not back at that point yet, so he closed the door and turned the lights on, walking into the living room. Turning to the kitchen, he found a pool of water on the floor, large almost the whole kitchen area. “Crap…” he murmured quickly locating the problem. 

It took him a while, but he managed to stop the water coming out of a loose pipe under the sink; then, he started gathering towels, patching the swamped floor with them, wondering if Jack saw that. He knew Bozer asked him to check the house while they were gone… From the pool size, the water has been flowing for a while, so Jack probably skipped going there that day. 

Mac double-checked the sink and then grabbed his phone, leaving it to recharge in the living room before heading to his bedroom. Changing into casual clothes, he then glanced at the window, remembering Jack sitting by the fireplace, alone, just a week before. _I should have talked to him that night…_

Sighing, he crashed on the bed, an arm covering his eyes. _We’ll talk tomorrow, and we’ll make things right… We can fix this…_

He was asleep a few seconds later.

**Two years + three months before**

_A phone ringing brought Jack back to the present. Blinking, he realized he has been staring at the shower cabin for way too long. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed his cellphone, “Yes?… Yeah, I’m ready.” He checked the hour, “Ok, I’m on my way.”_

_Jack ended the call and took a deep breath, staring down at the military uniform he was wearing. He was used to it, but it kept reminding him of the past- of the time spent in Afghanistan…_

_He pushed the memories away and turned around to grab his bag. He couldn’t think about Mac right now… About how much things suddenly changed between them. Two weeks had passed since Ethan’s death, and remembering about that day still felt like putting salt into a deep, fresh wound._

_Jack was supposed to be used to it. He knew how easy it was to lose someone on the field, it wasn’t even the first time, and yet, losing Ethan felt like reaching a limit. And because he couldn’t- or didn’t know how to deal with it, he lashed out his frustration on Mac. In the most terrible way possible._

_At first, he tried to justify that anger, blaming Mac for not believing the timer was wrong, wasting precious seconds, but, deep down, he knew that was just a stupid excuse. Mac knew exactly what he was doing, that was the reason why he didn’t believe him right away… In that logical, big brain of his, those forty seconds were simply wrong._

_And even if Mac actually made a mistake, Jack was as much responsible for getting Ethan and himself stuck in that room… If not even Riley had been able to crack the enemy's system, how could Mac do it, stuck on the other side of a bulletproof door, with forty seconds left to break in and defuse a bomb?  
Jack knew all that, and he tried to scroll the anger off- and he just couldn’t._

_It was hard for Jack to admit, but something changed the moment he discovered an old enemy of his was back in business, and that was months before Ethan: as soon as he was told that Kovac was alive, Jack knew it was time to stop that maniac for good. He was waiting for the call, ready to go and put that bastard behind the bars- or so he thought._

_He also knew how difficult it would have been to tell the others that he had to leave for who knows how long... Still, it was for a good cause. It was something he needed to do to keep the people he loved safe as well, but, most importantly, to give justice to all the people that died because he failed to stop Kovac years before._ No more mistakes, _became like a mantra for Jack. That was probably what made losing Ethan so damn painful._

_All those thoughts were spinning inside Jack’s mind during their last mission, and, by the end, he just snapped. If he couldn’t even save a friend, how was he going to save others from someone like Kovac? Or stop the man at all? He failed Ethan, and now he was failing Mac too, leaving him dealing with his own guilt that probably got even worse after that distant and quick goodbye, barely looking at each other, just twenty minutes before, and the Phoenix headquarter…_

_Jack wanted to stay and reassure his friend that what happened wasn’t his fault; that he knew that already, way before Matty coming to him and explaining how there was no way to stop that bomb- in those circumstances, no one could have... And yet, at the same time, Jack didn’t want to show himself to the others, not in his current state. He wasn’t supposed to lose control, letting those emotions out like that. He needed to prove to them he was still the same Jack they knew, and then, maybe..._

_Taking a deep breath, Jack looked around the apartment, wondering when and if he would have seen that place again. After leaving the keys in the kitchen, with a little message for Riley to use the place and his car as she wanted, he moved towards the door… It was then that his cellphone rang again. Fishing it out of his pocket, it suddenly became extremely heavy as he saw Mac’s name flashing on the screen._

_For a moment, he considered ignoring the call, but, apparently, he couldn't take any more regrets. He took a deep breath and answered, “Hey.”_

_“Hey... Where did you go? I thought you were still here, filling those papers...?”_

_Jack looked down. It was a pain hearing Mac tiptoeing like that. “I, uh, got someone that could do it for me.”_

_“They’re going to falsify your signature too?”_

_“I’ve signed most of them. I gave my permission for the rest.” He said. There was an awkward moment of silence then, that lasted until Jack couldn’t stand it anymore, “So… Take care, alright? Don’t do anything I would do.”_

_“Wait- are you leaving already?”_

_“Yeah, got a flight in thirty minutes. You caught me on the door.”_

_“Oh… Ok. Do you- need a lift? I can-”_

_“No, I’m good. There’s a car waiting for me.” Jack said. He knew what Mac was doing- he knew why he called… It was something he should have done, not Mac- and not on the phone, but in person. He walked into the Phoenix’s briefing room, that morning, to fix the situation before leaving, but all he managed to do was saying goodbye and breaking everyone’s heart._

_“Jack?”_

_“Yeah?” he blinked back to attention._

_“Can’t you wait another day before leaving?”_

_“You know that I can’t. The team is ready to-“_

_“Please.”_

_Jack stopped with a hand on the doorknob. He wasn’t expecting that. Mac never begged him for anything- but he was doing it now, thirty minutes before a direct flight to Kovac, to make him stay. “Mac…”_

_“Just one day. It won’t make that much of a difference, right?”_

_“Maybe not, but-“_

_“I just- I don’t want you to leave like this,” Mac continued, “I know we should’ve talked weeks ago-”_

_“I can’t stay.” Jack cut him off, voice cold and serious. He had to. Better be an asshole to your best friend than letting him know how that call just made everything ten times harder and more painful. “We’ll talk once I come back, I promise.”_

_A moment of silence, then Mac’s voice sounded so sad it almost made the other cry, “And when are you coming back?”_

_“You know that. As soon as we’ll be done with Kovac.” Jack leaned forward, bumping his forehead against the door, eyes closed. “We’re going to talk after that, ok?”_

_There was another moment of silence. Then, Mac just said, “Ok.”_

_Jack opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head and changed it to a cold, “See you soon, then,” and ended the call. He kept pressing his head against the door for another moment, then stepped back and put the phone into the bag, anger crashing on him like waves, reminding him how he just couldn’t stop making a mistake after another._

_Jack grabbed the bag with one hand, then stopped and punched the kitchen’s cabinet on the left hard enough to crack the wood. He then left, the door slamming shut behind him._

**Now**

Jack woke up laying on a cold floor with a terrible headache. Groaning, he pressed both hands over his eyes. He slowly sat up and looked around the shadowy room he was in: no furniture, and no windows, only one light was coming from the upper left corner.

“’The hell…?” he groaned again, focusing on a metal door located behind him. _I was at Mac’s house… No… A box… From the neighbors… There was a hand- I found a body…_

Jack took a deep breath and stood up, patting over his shirt and jeans: the jacket was gone, along with all his belongings. He slowly headed to the door and punched on it, “Hello? Anybody out there?” he called, checking for a lock, but found none. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you made a mistake… A big, gigantic mistake.” 

Getting no answer, Jack sighed, trying to concentrate. “I don’t know what you guys want, but this isn’t going to help you getting it,” he said. There was only silence after that, and Jack kicked the door with one foot, gasping in pain, almost losing his balance: there was no way he could kick it down.

“Come on- not my fault if you guys don't even know how to hide a body!” He kept yelling. “Just let me go and maybe we can talk things out, ok? Maybe-“ he stopped as he heard a buzzing sound. Stepping back, he watched the door sliding open after a moment, and three men entering the room. 

Jack looked at each one of them, complete strangers to him. He nodded once, “Gents.” 

“You’re coming with us.” One of them said, handcuffs in hand. 

Jack raised his eyebrows, “You do know you’re supposed to use those before the prisoner wakes up, right? Are you guys for real?” he said, trying not to laugh, easily grabbing the man’s arm when he moved forward, turning it behind his back and forcing him down on his knees. “It’s to avoid something like this from happening, see?” Jack commented, caught by surprise when the man hit him in his groin with an elbow, making him double over, and a punch sent him on the floor again. 

“We don’t have time for this,” another of the group said. 

“We’ll be ready in a second,” the first man growled, standing up. 

“You sure about that?” Jack scoffed, ready for round two: dodging a punch, Jack then grasped the man’s jacket, standing up while sending him crashing against a wall, his head colliding with it rather painfully. Done that, Jack turned to the others, “Guys, I just want to know-!” he wasn’t able to finish as the two jumped on him, trying to pin him down. 

Jack managed to kick one off, then moved an arm around the other’s neck, squeezing until the enemy’s body become limp in Jack’s grasp. Only then, the agent stood up and was ready to finish that fight, but, apparently, the first man didn’t hit his head _that_ hard, after all. 

Jack felt one arm suddenly moving around his neck- it was then that his instinct took over: Jack hit the man’s face with the back of his head, hard, hearing a pained gasp and the grasp around his neck loosening. In a second, he grabbed the man’s jacket, making him fly in the air before slamming him on the floor, grabbing and breaking his arm, hearing the man scream before knocking him out with a punch. 

Breathing hard, Jack turned to the door, finding the last enemy blocking the way. “Look, I don’t know who you guys are, but I think we’re done here, aren't we?” He asked, and, as an answer, he saw the man grabbing a knife from behind his back. 

_“Why don’t you show us what you can do with the blade? I’ve heard stories, you know?”_

Jack pushed the memories away and sighed at the man, “You asked for it, bud.” 

A few seconds and a dark bruise on the cheek later, Jack tiredly walked out of the cell, throwing the knife away, leaving the defeated group of enemies behind. 

Jack walked down the corridor until he found and climbed a staircase, finally reaching a floor with windows: looking outside, he could see woods all around the building, and a city in the distance, but none of that seemed familiar. “Where the hell am I?” he murmured before proceeding, searching for the exit. 

The large, fancy place didn’t seem abandoned, but there were no furniture anywhere; no tables, nor chairs- no pictures on the walls, nor plants… Apparently, the only working light was the one in the cell.

As he pushed a large, wooden door open, Jack found himself into a long room with flowers and trees painted on the walls. He stared at it until he noticed a door far ahead: the exist he was looking for. As he reached the middle of the salon, the door opened, making him stop on his tracks. 

A red-haired man stepped inside, wearing a long blue coat covering most of his body. 

Jack swallowed down as they stared at each other, “You're the boss here?” 

“I’m not.” He answered, his voice calm, sounding very young.

“Then who do I have to thank for this trip?” Jack asked, but the man simply stood there, unmoving. “Look, I already told your friends, I don’t know what you guys want, but I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.” 

The man smiled slightly. “Enlighten me, then.” 

Jack took a deep breath, not appreciating the sarcasm. “How about you just move aside so I don’t have to punch you in the face too?” He asked, but the other didn’t move. “No offense, but I’m not really for the _creepy mansion_ vibe, so…” 

“What makes you think that you have any word about your stay here?” The man asked, looking genuinely curious. 

Jack shook his head, moving forward, “You know what? I’m really not in the mood for-“ 

A gunshot echoed in the room like a thunder, and Jack gasped, falling on his side, grasping his left leg. He saw the gun, but, being honest with himself, he wasn’t expecting to get shot just like that. He watched the blood slowly spreading on the white marbled floor, the bullet hole visible a few inches above the knee.

“You sure are a funny one,” the red-haired man said, suddenly closer, stepping on Jack’s neck as he tried moving. 

Jack started gasping for air, moving his hands from the wound to the shoe pressing over his neck, managing to move it away enough to roll on his side, coughing. “You- son of a-“ 

“Language.” The man interrupted, and, with a kick in the face, Jack’s world turned to black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very, _very_ slow updates because life.

_“So… He’s the kid you told me about? The wizard?”_

_Mac turned around, frowning, holding a box into his hands, “That’s how you introduce me to other people?”_

_“Sometimes,” Jack shrugged, “and yes, he’s the one,” he added to Ethan._

_“You do know magic has nothing to do with this, right?” Mac asked, eyeing the box._

_“Or does it?” his partner said, lifting his eyebrows._

_Mac sighed and shook his head, “See you inside,” he said, pushing the box through a little window at the base of the wall before crawling through it himself._

_“Be careful,” Jack said, kneeling on the ground to keep the window open for him until he was gone. Standing up, he looked at Ethan that was smiling. “What?”_

_“Nothing.”_

_“You sure?”_

_“It’s good to see you well, that’s all,” he said. “Last time we met, things were- not going so well. For either of us.”_

_Jack looked away, “Yeah, well… I guess we both got someone keeping us on the right track.”_

_Ethan nodded, thinking, then laughed a bit, “I still can’t believe I got married...”_

_“Oh, I can’t believe that either…”_

_“Shut up,” he laughed._

_“But I’m happy for you. I’m serious,” Jack said, glancing at the police uniform Ethan was wearing, “Coming back home is one thing, but it’s not easy to adjust. Lots of us didn’t make it, but you did.”_

_“ **We** did.” Ethan gently corrected him. “As you said, we both are back on the right track. With some help. Nothing to be ashamed of.” _

_Jack nodded, then looked up at the facility they were going to enter. “We’ll be done with this in no time,” he said turning to Ethan, “so that you and your wife will get that flight to Rome.”_

_Ethan smiled, “I can’t wait to show her the city at dawn. She’s gonna love it…”_

Jack woke up slowly, with no memory of what he was dreaming. Blinking tiredly, head down, chin brushing his chest, he flinched slightly at the sudden pain: lifting his head and clearing his vision, he could see the hole into his left leg, a few inches above the knee, dried blood all around it and down his trousers. 

Groaning, Jack sat better on the metal chair he was restrained to, wrists handcuffed behind his back; his legs also tied. He could tell he has been bleeding for a while now… 

Jack took a deep breath and tried to move, and this time he barely managed to keep down a loud, pained groan. _Bullet’s still inside,_ he told himself.

“Look who’s finally awake.” A male voice said. 

Looking up, Jack noticed someone approaching from an open door on the right, realizing it was the same red-haired man that shot and knocked him out. “Not you again…” Jack groaned tiredly before receiving a punch that cut his cheek and turned his head the other way. 

“Yeah, same,” the man commented, shaking his hand. 

Jack coughed a bit. “You know… I don’t think punches are your thing. Just stick to the kicks,” he said, and another punch was the reward for that. 

“I can do both, don’t worry.”

“If you say so,” Jack said, spitting blood on the floor. “So… Are you gonna tell me why am I here or you just need someone to talk to?” He was expecting another punch, but, this time, the man just stared at him. “I know, it’s a lonely world…” Jack stopped talking as he saw him taking a knife from behind his back. 

“Oh, you don’t like knives?” The man smiled, “Did I found out a way to make you shut up?” 

“Just wondering what’s up with you, guys, and all your fancy knives...” Jack said, staring coldly at him. “I hope you’re better with that than you are with your fists,” he added, and realized something else: this man wasn’t in charge. He clearly wanted to cut Jack’s throat, but he was just wasting time.

“Who are you?” The red-haired man asked. 

Jack frowned and then simply scoffed at him. This time, the third punch was expected, but he couldn't stop commenting with a satisfied, “Worth it…” 

“You’re not going to make this easy, aren't you?” The man then asked. 

“Why the hell should I ever want to make anything easy for you?” 

“Just a bit of advice. For your own good.” 

“Very kind of you, but I’ll pass.” 

The man stared at him for a while before walking away. 

Only when the door closed, Jack took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly, trying to bear the pain coming from both, his face and his leg. He then looked around the empty room; the only source of light was a window behind him, so that he couldn’t see outside... From the light, he could tell was almost the sunset- but it could be a trick. 

_Just need to work my way out of this mess... As usual,_ Jack told himself, trying not to look at his own blood for too long.

* 

Mac woke up strangely late the next morning, half of his face buried into the pillow. Turning on his back, he passed both hands over his face, taking a moment to fully wake up. He then frowned, smelling coffee in the air.

As he left the bedroom, he found Bozer sitting at the kitchen island, in front of the computer. “Hey, you’re back,” Mac said, trying not to laugh at how worn-out his friend looked as he turned to him, “and I guess you still need some time to recover, huh?”

“I feel like I’ve spent the whole night in a mixer,” Bozer murmured, exhausted. 

“Speed?” 

He considered it for a second, “Eight.” 

Mac laughed a bit, moving to fill a cup for himself. 

“On another hand, you look great.”

“Well, I didn’t smoke any drugs yesterday.”

“Yeah, but it’s not just that…” Bozer said, watching him turning around, looking puzzled. “It’s just… It’s good to see you like this again.” 

Mac frowned, “ _Like this_ how?” 

“I mean, you being in a good mood during the mission- despite me and Riley getting smoked. You even managed to sleep on the plane… And you’re _smiling_.” Bozer said, making him look away, embarrassed. “It’s good to see you being- more like yourself again. I mean it.” 

Mac took a deep breath, nodding. “Bozer, I… I know the last two years haven't been easy...” 

“Don’t you dare,” Bozer stopped him. “Positive thinking only. We’re all happy to see you feeling better. You should be proud of yourself.” 

“I didn't get better alone, though.” 

Bozer smiled caringly. “You deserve it. You and Jack both.” 

Mac looked into his cup, then his eyes gazed outside, at the balcony, and his brain caught up. “Jack, he- did he call?” 

“Not since I came back... Why?” 

“He said he would have passed by once we were back home…” 

Bozer studied him, then smiled hopefully and asked, “You guys are finally going to talk?” 

Mac took a deep breath, nodding, “Yes… I think it’s about time we _actually_ talk about what happened.” Looking at his friend, he found Bozer staring with watery eyes. “Please, don’t.” 

“I’m happy the family is getting back together, ok? It’s been two years!” Bozer sobbed, standing up to leave his mug into the sink. 

“It won’t be easy… Telling him about everything, I mean,” Mac said, and noticed how Bozer’s expression becoming more serious, and then worried. “I know I have to tell him, but... We just got him back. I don’t…” Mac didn’t finish, nervously looking down again. 

“Hey, don’t worry too much, ok? It’s gonna be alright,” Bozer reassured him. “You don’t have to talk _everything_ out today. Take your time. We’ll support you guys all the way.” 

Mac took a deep breath and nodded, “Thank you.” 

“Don’t mention it,” he smiled patting a hand on his shoulder. “Now, sorry, but if I don’t finish that report, Riley is gonna come here in person and hit me with the laptop.” 

Mac smiled, letting him go back to work. _It’s gonna be alright. We just have to talk… And Jack likes to talk way too much,_ he thought, smiling a bit, walking back to his room to get dressed. 

Later, Mac was sitting at his desk, staring once again at the fireplace, out the window, wondering how he was going to talk to Jack about Ethan and the last two years… After considering most of the possible scenarios, he looked down at the project he left unfinished on the table and decided to keep his mind busy with it for a while. 

_A while_ , turned into a few hours, and, once the handmade little radio was completed, Mac left his room and started pacing back and forth between the living room and the balcony. 

“Mac, please, you’re making me nervous too,” Bozer sighed from the couch, as the other walked back inside once again. 

“Sorry. Sorry, I… I hate waiting.” Mac said sitting in the kitchen. 

“Yes, obviously,” Bozer said, watching him nervously tapping his foot on the floor. “Why don’t you just give him a call? Or send him a message?” 

“No, I- I don’t want to stress him out about it.” 

“Well, at least ask him if we have to wait for him for lunch?” 

“Very subtle...” 

Bozer sighed, “There’s no need to be subtle. Maybe he’s waiting to hear it from you… Maybe he wants to make sure you’re ok to meet?” 

Mac didn't consider that. He thought Jack would have barged in their house early in the morning as he always did- but now everything was different. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I just thought…” he shook his head and stood up saying, “I’ll send him a message,” while heading back to his room. 

_He did say we were going to talk but, being Jack, it’s possible that he’s waiting for me to tell him that I’m ok with it?_ Mac wondered while grabbing the cellphone, fully charged, but, he just realized, still off. “Angus, you really are a genius,” Mac sighed turning the device on. _What if he tried to call me? What if-_

Mac’s thoughts came to a halt as he saw the notice of a voice message left the day before- from Jack. He took a deep breath and sat on the bed, listening to it, preparing for the worst. 

_“Hey, Mac, it’s me. I’m at your house. There’s a little problem with the kitchen, but I just asked a friend to come and take a look, so don’t worry. Everything’s under control…”_

_So he did come here yesterday...?_ Mac thought. 

After a brief pause, Jack continued, _“We’ll talk tomorrow morning, ok? And I don’t mean it as a threat, I just… We’re trying to brush everything off as nothing happened, but that’s not fair to you. I left you hanging for two years- and I’m sorry about that. About everything. I really am. A-anyway…”_

Mac’s tears barely started forming when he jumped up hearing the doorbell ringing. He dropped the phone and quickly walked to the door, a new, hopeful smile on his face as he rushed it open. 

“Woah,” Riley smiled, stepping back, then frowning at his shiny eyes, “Mac, you ok?” 

“Yeah…” he said, clearing his throat while pushing his emotions back down. “I thought… Nevermind. Come on in.” 

Riley did just that, studying him, “Are you sure you’re ok?” 

“Yes, I… I’m more than ok, actually.” He said with a genuine smile, passing both hands over his face, embarrassed about how Jack’s words lifted almost two years of guilt from his heart. He took a deep breath and, noticing her still staring with a worried expression, hugged her. 

Riley blinked in surprise. “Ok… Now I'm worried.” 

Mac laughed, letting her go, “You staying for lunch?” 

“I was here to kill Bozer but, sure, I’m fine with that too.” 

“The program stopped working! It’s not my fault!” Bozer groaned. 

“What _exactly_ have you done?” She sighed, joining him in the living room.

Mac smiled at them, checking outside one last time before closing the door. Jack said he would have been there in the morning, so maybe he really wanted to eat together… 

“You completely messed up the system… All I asked you to do was sending me a file.” Riley said gesturing Bozer to scoot aside so that she could sit in front of the laptop, on the couch. 

“Blame the drugs we smoked yesterday if my brain can't connect today,” Bozer snorted, “and how come you don’t look miserable like me?” 

“Don’t ask questions I can’t answer,” she commented, sending a glare at Mac that was still smiling slightly from the corridor. “What’s up with him today?” she murmured towards the other.

Bozer followed her gaze and scoffed, “Let me guess, Jack’s on the way?” 

“Mh? Oh, yes- I mean, no. I don't know. He left me a message saying he was going to come here today, in the morning, so…” 

“It’s been ages since we had lunch together... We should make something special,” Riley said keeping her eyes on the screen, her fingers tapping fast on the keyboard, “and with _we_ , I mean Bozer.” 

“Leave it to me. I can't make mistake on that front,” he said standing up, heading to the kitchen. 

“I can help-“ Mac started.

“No, thanks. Our kitchen just survived a flood, better not test our luck any further.” 

Riley smiled as Mac nodded and sat next to her. As their eyes met, she said, “I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet?” 

“Me? For what?” 

“For bringing Jack back home. Matty told us not to go after him… Even I thought he needed time, but not you. You flew to Texas and brought him back.” 

“I really didn’t,” Mac said shaking his head, “I told him we were waiting for him. He decided to come back by himself. And I’m glad he did.” 

“Me too,” she nodded. “If you two are going to talk… Are you going to tell him about...?” 

“I don’t know yet,” he looked away, then gave her a little smile, “One step at the time, right?” 

Riley smiled back, nodding, “One step at the time.” 

“We’re out of butter!” Bozer gasped from the kitchen, making them laugh. 

A few hours later, way past lunchtime, Bozer and Riley were both standing in the kitchen, leaning against the sink, staring at the food left around, ready to be served. 

“Nothing?” Bozer asked as she put her phone away. 

“His cellphone is turned off,” Riley said. 

“You don’t think he changed his mind, right? I mean, he told Mac he was coming here this morning…” 

“I’m sure there’s an explanation why he’s so late. Jack knows how much important this is. For both of them.” 

Bozer sighed, “I guess I’ll keep that chicken warm for another twenty minutes. Then we’ll have to eat it, or throw it away.” 

Riley nodded, then turned to the balcony and walked outside. 

Mac was sitting on the banister, staring at the paperclip he was playing with. He looked up hearing her approaching, “Hey. Any news from Jack?” 

“Not yet. I left him a message.” Riley stopped next to him, really hoping Jack wasn't playing any trick on them. This time it would have been unforgivable. “I'm sure he’ll be here soon. Maybe his car broke or something.” 

“In that case, he would have called already.” 

“Maybe he broke his phone too.” 

Mac laughed a bit, “Not because of me? That’d be a first.” That said, he looked up, finding her staring. “Look, it’s alright. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has spent the last three hours walking back and forth in his apartment. Or still doing it.” 

“He should at least give us a call.” 

“Well, I didn’t do that either…” 

Riley frowned, “What do you mean?” 

“Let’s say I… I did pretty much the same thing to him, back in Texas,” Mac sighed putting the paperclip away. “I come up with this stupid excuse… I told him I was there to get some documents from Dallas just so that I didn’t have to stay at his house. I knew he didn’t want me there, so, on that front, that worked for the better…” 

“But…?” 

“But, when he invited me for lunch the next day, I- I froze. I stayed in my hotel room until the evening.” Mac took a deep breath, shaking his head, “I knew he was waiting for me, not even three miles away, and I just sit there, thinking about all the ways I could mess things up even more.” 

Riley couldn’t hide a little smile. “So you can lie too, huh?” 

“Badly, yeah. I doubt he believed that story,” he said, “but he didn’t care. Jack kept waiting for me all day, so I can do the same for him now.” 

She sighed, “I’m sure he wants to fix this as much as you do.” 

“I hope so.” 

Riley took a deep breath, “Alright, then... But if he’s not here before midnight, we’re going to hunt him down.” 

Mac laughed a bit, “Deal.” 

Bozer was staring worryingly at the oven when he saw Riley walking back inside, “How is he doing?” 

“Surprisingly well,” she said, “He said we just have to wait… Give Jack the time he needs.” 

“Mac's probably right. I can only imagine how hard is gonna be to talk everything out between them...”

“Yeah, but-“ Riley was interrupted by his phone beeping. Checking on it, her shoulders dropped. 

“What?” Bozer asked. 

“I was tracking down Jack’s car… I just found it.” 

“You put a tracker on his car?” 

“You bet I did,” she said, checking the information. 

Bozer moved next to her to see the screen, then frowned, “That’s pretty far from here…” he said watching the red dot blinking on the map. “You don’t think he’s going to leave again, right?” he asked, lowering his voice. 

“I don’t know,” she murmured, “but if he is, this time I’ll kidnap him myself...”

“Everything alright?” Mac asked, walking back inside just then. 

They both turned to him and before Bozer could speak, Riley said, “Matty called. We have to go.” 

Mac nodded, “I guess the lunch is postponed, then.” 

“She just called-“ 

“Us. Matty called for the two of us,” Bozer interrupted her. “I’m sure it’s nothing important.” 

Mac seemed unsure but then nodded again. “Ok… Call if you need me?” 

“Sure.” They watched him walking back outside, and only then Bozer turned to Riley, “You’ll need some help to force Jack into the trunk, so I’m coming with you.” 

Driving down the road, Riley couldn’t stop wondering what happened to Jack. If he really was planning to leave, why promise Mac they were going to talk that same day? Why playing with his friend’s feelings? There were so many things Jack needed to know… 

“I’m sure Jack’s just panicking,” Bozer said as if reading her mind, keeping an eye on the map, sitting next to her. “I mean, considering the situation, I would be on the edge too.” 

“I get that, but he knows how important this is,” she said squeezing the steering wheel. 

“From what Mac told me, the last two years haven’t been easy for Jack either…” 

“That’s why he can’t just run off like this. They need to talk, and if they don’t have the courage to do that, we’ll make them.” 

Bozer frowned, turning to her, “You mean, like, locking them into a room for a few hours?” 

“That’s the last resort,” Riley said and noticed him staring patiently at her. “I just don’t want to see Mac being hurt again.” 

Bozer nodded slowly, “Yeah, me either,” he said looking down at the phone. They kept quiet for a while, then he looked outside, “It should be- there. That gas station.” 

Riley pulled over and they both stepped out of the car: there were no other vehicles around, and the gas station was closed. “Give me the phone.” 

Bozer did just that, studying the surroundings. “He ran off and stopped here? In the middle of nowhere?” 

“This is the last known signal… Maybe he found my tracker and removed it.” She sighed, looking around, “Damn it, Jack…” 

“Doesn’t that sound too much elaborate to you? _The great escape_ , just to avoid talking to Mac?” 

“Then what? Why did he come all the way here today?” 

Bozer thought for a moment, “Wait- today? That last signal is from today?” 

Riley was going to answer, then stopped to check. “Well, it’s from tonight… Why did he come here in the middle of the night?” 

“No idea,” he said walking around the gas station.

“Where are you, Jack?” Riley murmured leaning against a window to look inside the gas station: it seemed still working, but there was no one inside. As she stepped back and checked her phone again, for the first time that day she thought something was wrong. 

“Riley!” 

She jumped and turned to the back of the station, quickly passing through a broken, old fence, finding Bozer a few feet ahead. “What? Why did you scream like that?” She nervously asked, and he moved an arm to stop her, pointing down the cliff they were standing on: Jack’s car was there, with the hood crashed against a tree, branches and bushes hiding half of it. 

Thirty minutes after Bozer and Riley left the house, Mac was already standing in front of Jack’s apartment building, with part of the lunch packed into a box. 

He tried to convince himself to wait- he even told Riley that he was totally fine waiting until midnight, but, in the end, he just couldn’t, especially if it was about having back his friendship with Jack. 

Taking a deep breath, Mac walked up the stairs and used the spare key he still had to open the first door. Once in front of Jack’s apartment, he stopped. _Just check if he’s here and he's alright, give him the food, his keys, and leave… Food, keys, and leave_ , Mac told himself before knocking twice on the door- there was no answer. 

Knocking again, he looked down and noticed the corner of a letter peeking from under the door. After a moment, he grabbed it and opened it, finding a message: _“Jack, I found your key, sorry it took me so long. I’ll keep it until you can come and get it back. And don’t worry about the house. I’m happy you’re back.”_ It was signed Denise. 

Mac vaguely remembered that was Jack’s neighbor… The lady that used to check on his apartment when he was away. He kept thinking for a while, then decided to enter the apartment.

As expected, Jack wasn’t home, and, once closed the door, Mac sighed, feeling both relieved and disappointed. Leaving the food in the kitchen, he then looked around, smiling as most of Jack’s things were back in their places. He knew Riley stayed there for a while after Jack left, but she never made it _her_ house. 

Mac, on the contrary, has been there only three times: once after Jack left, helping Riley moving in; then one year later, and then again a few days before going to see him in Texas. 

He left Denise's note on the kitchen isle, and then glanced at the crack on one of the cabinets, near the door… He still had no idea how or when that happened, but, when he offered to fix it, Riley refused. 

Mac took a deep breath and sat on the couch, staring at Jack’s DVD collections for a while. He then grabbed his phone, hoping for any news, but there was nothing from Riley, nor from Jack. 

Before trying to call him again, Mac scrolled to the last message Jack left him and played it again. Those words made him take another deep, relieved breath… Only then, he realized he had missed the last part of the message: _“A-anyway, your neighbors got a package for you while you were gone, so I’m going to-”_ Jack’s voice was interrupted by another beep, meaning he reached the time limit.

Mac stood up, a deep frown over his face. “A package…?” he murmured, confused, before quickly leaving the apartment.

_If Jack got the box, where is it?_ , Mac thought while checking the living room, and then the kitchen again, but found no trace of said box. He stopped in the corridor, thinking, _Jack would have left it where we could see it, for sure… Unless he took it with him, but why should he?_

After a moment, he opened the door and walked outside: there were no other buildings on the right side, so Jack must have been referring to the house next to Mac’s, on the left, down the hill. _Not impossible, but- strange,_ Mac thought, slowly walking towards the neighbor’s house, shamefully admitting he couldn’t even remember their names… He knew there was a couple living there, young, no kids- and that was all. They talked only a few times.

Scanning the porch, Mac finally stopped in front of their door and then pressed the doorbell: no answer. He tried again, still nothing. Looking through the window, Mac could hear a buzzing sound, as if something was on. “Hello? Anybody home?” as he knocked on the door, it clicked open. 

Mac looked inside from the doorway: the corridor and the living room seemed in order, and there was no other sound except the low buzzing. “Hello? May I come in? I’m MacGyver, your neighbor,” he called again before stepping inside, instantly turning his head and covering half of his face with an arm: there was a strong, sweet smell in the house, strong enough to make him want to throw up. 

“Hello?” Mac called one more time, now more urgently, feeling something wasn't right. Heading to the kitchen ahead, Mac stopped in front of what could be the door to the basement or to the garage. 

Mac slowly opened it, forcing down a groan and stepping back as the smell was stronger in there. _Definitely not rotten fruit,_ , he thought grabbing the phone and calling Bozer while carefully approaching the door again, realizing it led to the garage. 

“Mac?” Bozer finally answered. 

“Yeah, hey, uh… I think you guys should come back home…”

“We- why? Is everything ok?” 

“Yes, but- I heard Jack’s message again and… And I missed the last part. He said…” Mac stopped talking when, looking inside the vintage car parked there, noticed a body lying on the backseats, wearing a black, leather jacket. Mac’s eyes widened and he dropped the phone of the car’s hood, running to the door. “Jack-!?” he called, grabbing the man’s shoulder and turning him around- but that wasn’t his friend. 

Mac jumped back, bumping against a bike left there. He felt relief for that not being Jack’s corpse, but why there was a dead man in the car? And why was he wearing Jack's clothes? _That’s his jacket, but… Where is he?_

“MAC!” 

He blinked, realizing Bozer was screaming strong enough to be heard through the phone he just abandoned. Trying to focus, Mac took it back, “I’m here.” 

“What’s going on? Is Jack with you?” 

“No… No, but something happened here- at our neighbor’s house. There’s a body…” Mac glanced at the corpse again, his head now hanging down the seat, leaving the back of the neck exposed, and a strange mark on it was now clearly visible. 

“WHAT?! Ok, Mac, listen, we’re fifteen minutes away, just wait for us, ok? Call the police- even better, call Matty and- Mac? Mac?!” 

He could hear Bozer calling him, but Mac’s eyes were stuck on that mark- signs burned into the flesh. He slowly dropped the phone again, faintly hearing it crashing on the floor. Mac’s heart was racing, the world started spinning, and he suddenly couldn’t breathe anymore.


End file.
